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

I cannot support the amendments, which would change the membership of the advisory board. The Bill provides for an advisory board that will be established to guide and support the director of an intervention. It will include scientific experts and former residents, family members of the deceased or both, and consultation with the advisory board will be required at regular intervals, including at key decision points in an intervention. The addition of an advisory board responds to a number of recommendations from the pre-legislative scrutiny report to enhance transparency and accountability and, in particular, to ensure meaningful engagement with families and survivors. It is an important change, brought about between pre-legislative scrutiny and the Bill having been introduced to Dáil Éireann.

In November last year, I published a 22-point action plan for survivors and former residents of mother and baby and county home institutions. This overarching Government response to the legacy of these institutions adopts a survivor-centred approach with a focus on human rights, and the State's obligations under domestic and international law underpin every action in the plan, including action 22 relating to this legislation. The primary role of this advisory board is to provide advice and guidance to the director at key points in the intervention, and in that context, it is important the director consider the views of family members and survivors but also have access to scientific expertise. In inserting provisions for an advisory board into the Bill, a key aim was to uphold the rights of family members by promoting their voice and views at key decision points in the process. Furthermore, in appointing a director, expertise in human rights will be one of the considerations, as will be coronial expertise.

I recognise that those most profoundly affected by any intervention will be the family members of the deceased and former residents of the institution in question, and the advisory board includes family members of the deceased and former residents for this reason. Nevertheless, we need to appreciate the sensitivity and impact of an intervention on the local community, as well as the role of the local authority in the protection and preservation of burial sites. Accordingly, the advisory board will include a member of the local authority to represent the interests of the local community and to reflect general responsibilities for the protection of burial sites and local planning.