Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My intention when I brought this Bill forward was that it would be a specific item of legislation to resolve the issues of the database that was created by the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes. I had hoped that this would be a discrete piece of legislation addressing a discrete and distinct legal issue. In my approach, what I lost sight of was that the issues around the mother and baby homes, and, indeed, the issues around all the major legacy issues that we have to deal with in the State, are not cold legal problems. They are some of the most grievous types of abuse that could be perpetrated on women and children and in my haste to fix a legal problem, I lost sight of that. I realise and accept that that approach has caused anguish and frustration and this is something for which I am deeply apologetic.

I believe the Bill before us today is good law. It secures a valuable database that can help children who went through these homes establish their full identity. However, this Bill is just one piece of work we have to do. We have work to deliver new legislation around adoption information and tracing. We have work to provide the children and babies buried in Tuam a dignified burial and memorialisation. We have work to ensure that personal information about people - their full identity - is available to them. We have work to do to secure the archives of all the institutional abuse that happened in Ireland in a single location, have it appropriately managed and have it accessible in order that the terrible wrongs that were done can never be forgotten.

It is my intention to speak with the Taoiseach and my ministerial colleagues and I will seek to adopt a new approach to legacy issues in this country - one that places victims at its very centre. I make the commitment today, in my continued work as Minister with responsibility for children, to reach out to survivors and their families and those affected. I hope the relationships that have been badly fractured over the past week can be rebuilt and it is my absolute determination and my commitment to do that.

I still believe that this Bill will help many of those who passed through the mother and baby homes and will help those who continue to seek their own identity. The amendments that I speak to today are reflective of some of the issues that were raised in this House and issues that were raised in the wider dialogue on this issue.

I refer to amendments Nos. 1 and 7. Amendment No. 7 provides for a copy of the database on mothers and children and related records to transfer to the Minister. This means that both Tusla and the Minister will receive a copy of the database and related records from the commission. The amendment replaces section 4 of the Bill, which provided for a transfer of the database and related records from Tusla, if necessary, should a tribunal of inquiry be established. That section will no longer be required as the specified Minister will hold a copy of the full archive as a consequence of this amendment. As the House will be aware, the impetus for this Bill derives from the necessity to secure an urgent bespoke solution to protect the complete records of the commission, including the database, before its expected dissolution by the end of this month ensuring that the information can be immediately accessible to relevant persons in accordance with the existing statute and protecting the opportunity for enhanced access in the future. That is the rationale for the provisions of the Bill, which seeks to transfer certain records to the Child and Family Agency.

I listened carefully to the arguments put forward last week seeking to have a copy of all records transferred to my Department rather than the limited separation of records as I had initially proposed and I accept that there is additional value to this approach. The amendment seeks to ensure that a copy of the database and related records is also deposited with my Department. This will deliver a complete archive while still ensuring that the database and related records can also transfer to Tusla and remain available for use in accordance with existing and future statute. I believe that this change enhances the outcome being achieved by this legislation. Amendment No. 1 is consequential on amendment No. 7.