Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 5 seeks to delete the lines in the Bill which say that an order for an excavation of a burial site will only be made if it is necessary for the purposes of safeguarding important objectives of general public interest. It is not clear what these lines are achieving, so I propose a deletion and substitution that specifies the Government may make an order where doing so is in line with the wishes of the majority of relatives of persons buried on the land. I believe Deputy Cairns said it best in the Dáil debate when she said this provision creates unnecessary barriers. In what scenario could excavating an institutional burial site not be in the public interest? Who decides what is in the public interest? Would this ever be used as a justification not to excavate a site? It is my view these lines should be deleted and substituted as set out as, currently, they only create an unnecessary qualifier that risks putting another obstacle between the public and the truth.