Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The leaking of the report into the mother and baby homes was very wrong. It caused considerable distress among the survivors of the homes. This investigation is very strange, and that is God's honest truth. In response to the parliamentary question submitted by Aontú, the Taoiseach stated the internal investigation into the leaking of the report on mother and baby homes was completed in December 2022. It is bizarre that it took 14 months for the Government to complete it and make this public. It is bizarre that it took an Aontú parliamentary question for the Government to decide it was noteworthy to the public.

The timeline is also very interesting. I asked the former Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, on 13 December whether it was he who leaked the report on the mother and baby homes to the media. He did not answer that question but said that there was no update on the report at the time. The current Taoiseach is saying the former Taoiseach received the report three days later. He is saying he received it the day before he assumed the office of Taoiseach, which insulates him from any responsibility in this regard. Those timelines are very hard to understand. I am referring to the Government's decision to tell people about the report only as a result of an Aontú question, to the former Taoiseach's statement that he did not know the answer to the question, and to his receipt of the report three days later, the day before the Taoiseach assumed office.

Why did the former Taoiseach or the current one not think it noteworthy to tell the survivors of the mother and baby homes about the results of the investigation into the leaking of the report? Why did they find out only as a result of an Aontú question? The Taoiseach mentioned senior officials who participated in the investigation. We know Martin Fraser was the senior official involved in the investigation initially but he changed job during the timeframe, becoming the ambassador for Ireland in London. Who took on his role? What were the terms of reference? Who was questioned in the investigation? Given that what was leaked was part of a general report that heavily quoted the former Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, was he questioned about it? This is significant because the leaking of reports to individuals in the Cabinet is not new. I once asked the Taoiseach in this Chamber whether he ever leaked reports, my question being related to the contractual document provided to the doctors' representative organisation. The Taoiseach said he did not at that level. We need to have a system with administrative transparency and also accountability in terms of people who do wrong regarding their responsibility to provide information to survivor organisations in the first instance.

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