Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sixteen months have passed since the Taoiseach first tasked the outgoing Secretary General of his Department with overseeing the investigation into the leaking of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation Final Report to the media. The Secretary General will be taking up his new position shortly. Can the Taoiseach confirm the status of the investigation, if it has been completed and if he intends to publish its findings and recommendations? It will be important for the Taoiseach to communicate the report's outcomes and recommendations to survivors and their families in the first instance. The leaking of the report was deeply hurtful, disrespectful and wholly inappropriate. In effect, the leaker put headlines ahead of people's dignity and rights. Survivors and their families are entitled to a formal conclusion to this sorry episode.

I want to record my party's disappointment over the Government's decision to retain the deeply offensive mandatory information section in the birth information and tracing legislation. Over the Easter break, the Irish Association of Social Workers added its voice to the call to remove this regressive provision from the legislation. It has described it as a discriminatory and unnecessary measure that will cause further harm to those affected by forced family separation. There is still time for the Government to act. In that spirit, I urge the Taoiseach and his Government colleagues to support the Opposition's amendments to remove the provision from the legislation.

See this speech in context