Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What happened to them then? This was in 2012 and we had complete silence and nothing was heard. The next time the documents reared their heads, it seems, was in 2014 when the interdepartmental group report on mother and baby homes was published. However, the 1,000 files were not included in that particular report. Instead, according to correspondence from the HSE, the files were handed over to Tusla. Once again, they disappeared into the ether. Is the Minister following all this? I have found it extremely complicated to understand and I have been guided by the people in the Visitors Gallery. They are making representations on behalf of the hundreds of mothers and children who are survivors.

On 29 July 2015, gardaí from Tuam met with Tusla and conducted inquires as regards the existence of this box of files. They stated in correspondence they were satisfied the survivors - whose names are redacted - are not mentioned in any such files, which confirms the existence of such files and confirms the Garda was aware of them in 2015. Tusla has confirmed that it still has custody of these files, as is confirmed by correspondence dated April 2016. In reply to correspondence from a survivor in April 2016, the Garda superintendent from Tuam, whom I will not name in deference to the Acting Chairman, stated An Garda Síochána at Tuam had not instigated a criminal investigation into this matter, namely, the HSE internal memo from 2012.

In May 2016, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, was informed of these files by letter from a survivors' group. In August 2016, the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald stated that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs had not been made aware of these files. In September 2016, a survivor made a complaint about them to Tuam Garda station. That month, the superintendent from Tuam stated that he was not aware of any criminal investigation into the HSE internal memo.

In October 2016, the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, stated that she would forward information to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. It is in the Minister, Deputy Zappone's office now and has been for some time. The Garda Commissioner is also aware of it and was to conduct an investigation but nothing has happened. How can we have something from 2012, when the Devil and all knew about it? Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, Senator James Reilly, Deputy Katherine Zappone, the Garda Commissioner - they all knew about these files of 1,000 women and their babies yet nothing was done about it. When the HSE said it would do its own investigation, nobody thought to go back and ask the HSE where that investigation was.

This country has failed those women and children along with many others. Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, Senator James Reilly, Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan, and the Minister, Deputy Zappone, are failing them. It has been a consistent pattern for years that nobody wanted to know. It has been, at best, concealment of documentation from the very outset. There has been a State cover-up of every step of the litany of abuse, neglect and cruelty wrought on these women and children. I do not know what else is in these files but I will forward them to the Minister again. I do not have the forensic knowledge and capability to examine them in detail. Nor is it Tony, David, Sheila or Karl's job to do so. They have done their part.