Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Government and particularly the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, on the decision to approve the forensic excavation of the site of the former mother and baby home in Tuam. It was the right decision. After a protracted investigation and forensic research, the Minister took the decision. She came to the House before doing so and said she would keep the House informed. It would be helpful if at some appropriate time the Minister came back to update us on this. My understanding is that significant quantities of human remains were discovered at the site last year. The Minister confirmed that to the House at the time.

The decision the Government has made, on the Minister's recommendation, is that several actions will be undertaken to include a phased approach for the evacuation and recovery of the juvenile human remains, as far as possible and practical, the use of systematic on-site ground testing and excavation to effectively locate the burials on this site and forensic analysis. That is very important. I commend the Minister because she said she was committed to it but that she would have to take expert advice and she did that. The lost children at Tuam, and all children wherever they may have been, deserve truth, recognition and ultimately dignity in their burial. The Government's decision is appropriate and welcome. We cannot forget Ms Catherine Corless who was brave and courageous and went out time and again, against all the odds, to highlight this issue. She put her personal story and that of her family into the public domain, which is never an easy thing to do but she felt she had to do that because she thought it was important to explain the problems around this issue.

I would like to pay a personal tribute to Seymour Crawford, a man I knew well. He made an outstanding contribution, especially to agriculture. As a Border man who was sensitive to the complexities of the Border and an active Presbyterian in his community, he was very much in tune with the sensitivities of North-South relations. I have just returned from the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, and on all sides his name was raised as someone who was a great advocate of cross-Border support within that group of which he was a founder member.He always spoke very eloquently about the great potential of the island of Ireland in agriculture and how, through economics, we could embrace and overcome many of our differences. BIPA acknowledged his great contribution to Northern Ireland politics and those in the South for the way he had always advocated moving forward. I pay my respects to his family. He was an outstanding politician who brought unique experiences to politics, not least a practical and simple application of agricultural methods. May he rest in peace.