Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 7, line 9, after "period" to insert the following:

"including in particular the adequacy or otherwise of the manner in which responsibilities were discharged by persons in authority, including judges".

The amendment provides that the matters to be investigated by the commission should include, in particular, the adequacy or otherwise of the manner in which responsibilities were discharged by persons in authority, including judges. Children were placed in institutions by courts but whereas the role of other bodies is being examined, the role of courts and judges has been excluded from the investigation. This will create a gap in terms of the outcome of the process.

It has been argued that the amendment would somehow constitute interference by the Legislature in the workings of the Judiciary. This is not my intention. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that the history of the matters under investigation is examined in full. The role of the courts and judges in making decisions to place children in institutions will be an important element of this process.

Although I do not claim to know a great deal about the issue, I suspect that some children were placed in institutions for no good reason and that the decisions made at the time may have been totally inappropriate. For this reason, an examination of the role of the courts and judges in the events of the period should be part of the process of finding out the truth and getting to the bottom of what happened.

The sole purpose of the amendment is to build up a correct picture of what happened and ensure all aspects of the background to the events under investigation are examined. It is intended not to interfere with the Judiciary, the courts system or the role of judges in society but to examine the historical role of the courts in the matters into which the commission is inquiring.