Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive statement. I visited Tuam and spent time there on Monday. I spent the day in County Galway talking to a number of people involved in this case. I thought it was appropriate to go. It is important to visit the site and speak to the people involved. I had a long engagement with Catherine Corless and her husband. Walking the site gives a great sense of its importance. The site is in the ownership of Galway County Council. As the Minister rightly stated, it is public land. I walked down to the very bottom of triangle - I know the Minister has been there. It is quite hard, with a lot of concrete. After that comes the children's playground. Ironically, no children were playing there but the rusty swings remain. Then come the grass verges. I note what the Minister said about 10 m, 20 m or 30 m. I have studied horticulture, and the nearest thing I can compare it with is when someone has a flower bed and decides to scrap it after 20 years because they cannot manage it and they put it back to grass. Years later, it is still possible to see the imprint of the bed.

On the day I was there, little squares were visible throughout the lawn. That was interesting and telling. For some reason, I felt there was some sort of dignity about that. There were plots set out. I was later told that they were children who had been buried in little wooden whitewash-painted boxes. I like to be fair when I comment on any issue. I went away thinking that someone set out with the intention to bury them there. It was clearly different when I went down to the sewers or the chambers as they were.

I welcome the legislation. I do not intend to propose amendments or certainly not many. I have one or two in mind. I spoke to someone this afternoon who suggested two. I am conscious that 11 a.m. tomorrow is the deadline for tabling amendments. I am also conscious that the Minister wants to get the legislation through, which is important.

In 2015, the Commission of Investigation into the Mother and Baby Homes was established. In 2017, the commission confirmed the presence of juvenile human remains at the site of the former mother and baby home in Tuam. We know that to be factually incorrect. In response, the Minister's predecessor, Katherine Zappone, commissioned the expert technical group to outline the options available to Government. In October 2018 the Government decided on a phased basis to carry out forensic-standard excavation. It then decided to look at the full site in Tuam. I understand the Attorney General advised that new legislation would be required to implement the decision. In December 2019, the Government approved and published the scheme of the heads of the Bill. In 2021, the general scheme was scrutinised by the Oireachtas committee. I have looked at the committee's papers and I commend the committee members on their work. They put considerable time into this task. The committee provided a report with its recommendations in July 2021. Following Government approval, the Institutional Burials Bill was published this year. I note that the legislation is not site-specific, a point I will deal with later.

The legislation seeks to ensure that the remains of those who died in residential institutions and who were buried in them in a manifestly inappropriate manner may be recovered in a respectful and appropriate manner, as the Minister outlined in his statement. I do not need to summarise the Bill's provisions; the Minister has set that out. However, I note that the legal basis for a phased step-by-step approach to an intervention will comprise the following steps: the excavation of the site; the recovery of the human remains; the post-recovery analysis of the remains; the identification of the remains through DNA analysis; the return of the remains to family members; and the respectful reinterment of remains. They will not necessarily be reinterred in Tuam at that site. I know that has not been finalised. That is an important point to make. All steps will be taken, which is reasonable. It will be based on international standards and practice.

I understand that in response to the pre-legislative scrutiny, recommendations and concerns were expressed by family representatives on the general scheme. I acknowledge that the Minister made some significant changes to the scheme. I want to address some of them now. Three of the key issues I have picked out for mention today are: a further reduction in the distance from a dwelling property where works can take place from 30 m, which comes down to 20 m and 10 m in certain cases. The Minister has been to the site and he knows that if that were to happen, a substantial amount of ground would not be covered.

The Minister spoke about the rights of owners of residential property. I accept we have constitutional rights to own property, but the Tuam site is surrounded by residential property on three sides. On Monday night I saw a map showing the distances measured out and I recognise the impact. I am happy with the Minister's assurances that in this case because these are public lands, it is possible to carry out a full excavation of all the bodies there. However, at Bessborough, which has fallen into the hands of a private developer - as is their right and I do not want to be site-specific to that extent - it would not apply. That means we come down to 10 m, which is considerable if it goes across three sides. Three tens make 30, which is a substantial amount of ground.

I know what the Minister is trying to achieve. What I took away from my conversations in Tuam on Monday is that people want assurances from him. I flagged them when I spoke to the Minister on Monday. I am glad he flagged them here which is reassuring for the people in Tuam.

The Bill provides for an oversight committee to perform an assurance role in respect of the historical database which is important. The Minister has made amendments to provide that the director may be called before an Oireachtas committee. I had some views on that initially, and I am glad to see it addressed.On the whole I am supportive.

I want to address an issue that has got somewhat lost in this. The Sisters of Bon Secours issued a statement that worth reading it into the record. It is not my view on the Bon Secours sisters but it says a lot about their admission.

The Commission's report presents a history of our country in which many women and children were rejected, silenced and excluded; in which they were subjected to hardship; and in which their inherent human dignity was disrespected, in life and in death.

Our Sisters of Bon Secours were part of this sorrowful history.

Our Sisters ran St Mary’s Mother and Baby Home in Tuam from 1925 to 1961. We did not live up to our Christianity when running the Home. We failed to respect the inherent dignity of the women and children who came to the Home. We failed to offer them the compassion that they so badly needed. We were part of the system in which they suffered hardship, loneliness and terrible hurt. We acknowledge in particular that infants and children who died at the Home were buried in a disrespectful and unacceptable way. For all that, we are deeply sorry.

We offer our profound apologies to all the women and children of St Mary’s Mother and Baby Home, to their families and to the people of this country.

Healing is not possible until what happened is acknowledged. We hope and we pray that healing will come to all those affected; those who are living and those who have died. We hope that we, our church and our country can learn from this history.

The statement is signed on behalf of the Sisters of Bon Secours in Ireland. I think it is important to read this because it is an admission by them. It is not something I say about them. It is an admission they have put on the record and people have told me it is important to read it into the record of the House. I hope we will move on. I wish the Minister well. These will be difficult days for all of the people involved but it is the right thing to do. It is what people want and expect at this stage. I hope we can get the legislation through the Houses and signed by Úachtarán na hÉireann as soon as possible.