Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In advance of the Government considering the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in January 2021, certain information that related to matters therein was disclosed in a newspaper article. In that context, the then Taoiseach requested that an investigation be carried out. The investigation was conducted by a senior official in my Department and it received full co-operation from all concerned. The investigation was concluded and the outcome was reported to the then Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, on 16 December 2022.

Given that information and documentation relevant to the matters in the commission's report had been circulated widely in advance of the Government meeting, the investigation concluded that it was not possible to establish with any certainty whether information relating to the matters in the report may have been disclosed in advance of the Government's consideration of the report or by whom any such information would have been disclosed.

As the Deputy will recall, on the publication of the commission's final report, the Tánaiste and I acknowledged the State's failures and apologised for the profound wrong that was visited on some Irish mothers and their children who ended up in mother and baby institutions. I said at the time that the survivors of those institutions were a stolen generation because the State stole from them the lives they could have had. Although it is late in the day, the State now has an opportunity to make restitution.

Since the publication of the commission's report, the Government has strongly prioritised giving effect to actions aimed at responding to the priority needs and concerns of former residents of mother and baby institutions or county homes. Those actions include memorialisation; improved access to health services, counselling and housing; access to records and information about residents, including birth certificates and medical records; financial reparations; and a repository to archive documents relating to residential institutions to enable study to be conducted and assist with advocacy.

The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and his Department have made very significant progress in advancing the various aspects of the Government's action plan, and the work is continuing on its implementation.

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