Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I stated, our view is that the orders have a collective and moral responsibility to respond to Ireland's legacy in relation to the mother and baby institutions. As I also stated, we just received the report on Monday.

We will assess that report and then consider what options we can take - within the law, obviously - in terms of persuading religious orders in respect of the mother and baby institutions. As I said earlier, it is a matter on which we will have to take advice in terms of the precise and specific issues that pertain to mother and baby homes, which will be different to those that applied to the industrial schools, for example, where the State was directly involved in terms of inspectorial reports and inspections of those schools. It was the State that put many young people into industrial schools, unlike mother and baby homes. The State was not directly involved in the latter. Nonetheless, we will see what is the most effective way to get a contribution from the religious orders and what options are available.

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