Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I come from County Galway and I know many people in Tuam. A friend of mine is a local historian there. People have been following the Tuam story very closely and taking the temperature on the ground. One major issue survivors have is with the fact that despite their pleas to the Minister when she met them in Tuam during the summer, they are still getting news of reports and important decisions being made by the Minister by way of news bulletins or opinion pieces in their local newspaper. The most famous of those reports is the one issued by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation in March 2017 which confirmed the presence of foetal and infant remains on the site in Tuam. That report clarified that the septic tank that was discovered had been decommissioned and filled with rubble and debris. One does not have to be an expert in the laws of physics to extract from that statement that the septic tank did not contain bones or that it may have been filled with other materials. It seems bones were discovered in a separate structure, the purpose of which the commission has "not yet determined". Yet I found myself in recent days hearing Audrey Carville on "Morning Ireland" referring to remains disposed in a septic tank. The thought struck me that sensationalism is not the friend of truth telling. It is not the friend of the cause of survivors to truth or an acknowledgement of their experience. Despite the clear report, the headlines which dominated international newspapers implied that the commission of investigation's report had reported that nuns had mistreated children and disposed of their bodies in a septic tank. That is the story that went around the world. I suppose it was a narrative of cruelty in life followed by disrespect in death.

Does the Minister agree that this kind of sensationalism does no good to anybody? It does a disservice to the important process that the commission of investigation has of finding out the truth, and that everybody involved deserves not to have the truth pre-empted. I was listening to another item on Brexit this morning on "Morning Ireland" and I heard a member of the business community in Northern Ireland gently deprecating the over-egging of the pudding by a journalist trying to get the best headline. He did it in a very diplomatic way. It seems to me that this is part of the culture that we have to contend with. I would be grateful if the Minister were to agree with me that that culture does not help anybody.

In the context of what I have been talking about, I spoke to the family of one elderly woman who now resides in the UK. To the best of my knowledge she is probably one of the only surviving mothers of the institution there. The family was very annoyed that she had to be subjected to those kinds of headlines instead of getting a sensitive telephone call to outline the true facts. We have seen headlines to the effect that the Irish State did it to its own children and murdered them by the thousands by neglect and hate. Another article in the Irish news section of the Irish Independent referred to "Banished Babies and the price of life in Ireland's Mother and Baby homes". That article said that babies were allowed to die, were murdered in effect. Kevin Higgins, a lawyer familiar with the issue, says the deaths were "at least manslaughter". One newspaper has called the scandal "our little holocaust". I ask the Minister to agree with me that these headlines are not just inaccurate but extremely unhelpful and prejudicial to the future impact of the truth telling the commission is charged with.

I commend the Minister on setting up at the time a factual information telephone line. As I understand it, when contacted, it contradicted much of what the newspapers were saying. I put on record that we should all be concerned by excessive exaggerated language that is not based on fact. In that context, I ask the Minister to commit that the investigation will identify the causes of death of the infants. Could she put on record that the causes of death will be published? That is the single biggest message about this story so far that went around the world. Somebody once said that a lie is halfway around the world while the truth is getting its boots on. There will have to be honesty about our past and a facing up to its harshness and cruelties. However, using the vacuum of information for propagandistic effect can never be ethical. All sides of the House should be able to agree on that.

I ask the Minister to avoid survivors and others being hurt by untrue headlines in the future. Given the sensitive and personal nature of this topic, it is most desirable to have direct contact in as far as that is possible with those most directly concerned. The Minister could help by putting on the record of the House that in future the Department will contact survivors and survivor groups more directly to furnish them with reports and decisions before RTÉ gets the story or the press conference takes place because we have seen distortion and the consequential upset that causes.

I hear the bell so I will finish by saying that it is most important that the commission of investigation gets this right. It is to be supported in its work. I would rather the work were done right and be slightly late than that it would be rushed, but that is all the more reason to be careful the vacuum does not lead to inaccuracy, sensationalism or polemics. All of that is unhelpful to the important role of careful truth telling so that we can have a better understanding of our past and make our obligations to those who have survived and those who have been most affected. In fairness to them, it is not compensation that is highest on their agenda. Very often, it is contact with a mother or family member. Their concerns should be foremost in all of our deliberations.