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

I am not in a position to support these amendments. The provisions they seek to remove are necessary to aid the clear interpretation of the criteria that define a manifestly inappropriate burial. Amendment No. 21 seeks to remove the phrase "at the time of such burial" from subsection 8(1)(b) of the legislation. As I explained in the Dáil, it is important that an assessment of burials relates to the time at which such burials took place and the agreed custom, practice and requirements at that time. It is difficult to justify assessing burials with reference to requirements that were not applicable or perhaps did not exists at the time of such burials. Burial ground regulations have also changed since 1922, which is the start of the period when this legislation is applicable.

Similarly, amendment No. 23 seeks to remove the phrase “and would reasonably have been so considered at the time the burials took place”. One of the criterions the Government must try to assess before deciding whether a burial site associated with an institution has manifestly inappropriate burials is whether most people at the time of the burial would have found the burials at a site like Tuam acceptable.Without this, it is much more difficult to interpret what "repugnant to common decency" means. There is also a risk of incorrectly applying present day customs or values.

Amendment No. 22 seeks to remove references to the manner or location related to the burials of remains and limit it to the fact that they were collectively buried. Accepting this change would significantly broaden the scope of what may constitute manifestly inappropriate burials. There may be a considerable number of locations where bodies were buried collectively in the past but which may not be necessarily regarded as "repugnant to common decency". The term "collective burials" would also be open to interpretation in the absence of reference to how remains were buried. It is, therefore, essential that the manner and location of burials are taken into account when assessing the inappropriate nature of burials.