Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials. I thank them for their continuous work on what is a very important issue. I also thank the Minister for setting out the order, as promised, as per his commitment during our discussions at various stages on this issue. I found most helpful the statement of reasons for making the order attached, from which my colleague, Senator O'Loughlin, has just outlined some of the issues in summary. I want to turn to a number of the other issues, but I do not want to use this opportunity to make this a complex issue because people need to understand it. While there are potentially some concerns, I want to extend the positive aspects to it. It is a good day. It is an order that I will support in this House.

As the Minister is aware, the Institutional Burials Act 2022 was signed by the President on 15 July 2022 and commenced fully by ministerial order on 15 July 2022. The Act provided a legislative basis for intervention whereby the remains of those who died in residential institutions and who were buried in a manifestly inappropriate manner may be recovered and reinterred in a respectful and appropriate way. It also provides for the identification of the remains and for their return to family members where possible and practicable. I believe these measures are appropriate, compassionate and responsive to the overwhelming outcry of the many families and the relatives of those involved.

I want to turn my attention in particular to Tuam and the site there, which is still owned by Galway County Council. A number of questions remain for Galway County Council and, in time, they should be revisited as there needs to be an explanation. I am conscious that the council was doing its work as part of a State response. It was a State-backed and financed administration in terms of some of the work that was being carried out in Tuam.

I again acknowledge the work done by Catherine Corless. She was brave and courageous, and she believed that more had to be exposed. A lot of questions had to be answered. She kept her nose to the grindstone and she brought people with her. She also lost people. I was struck by a number of things when I went to Tuam to visit her during the summer. On my return, I told the House about it and I spoke to the Minister. I met a number of people. Catherine clearly believed in what she was doing, but other people were silent. They were embarrassed and felt in some way that this was bringing a focus on their community. As I walked down to the chambers in the little garden in the second section, which many of us know from the iconic pictures we have seen on RTÉ News and in other places, I could not but help think there was a silence there. There were the creaking, rusty swings of a children's playground right next door - again owned by Galway County Council. I met other people later that day who felt that somehow they could not talk about it. Many people were connected to the site through work and family. It was a very difficult time for many people. I am not too sure if everyone will ever get over it. There are secrets there in the hearts and minds of many people associated with this terrible travesty and we may never be in a position to fully share and talk about them. I am conscious that we are dealing with the emotions, history and circumstances of a lot of people, some of which will never be explained.

On my return from Tuam that eventful day when I spoke with Catherine Corless and her husband, I was conscious that one could not but be moved by walking on the ground there and hearing their stories. I came back and I relayed the story to the House. I also spoke to the Minister. He gave a commitment on Tuam in terms of overseeing excavation, recovery, analysis and reinterment of remains that have been subject to manifestly inappropriate burial at the site of the former mother and baby home. To be fair, he has carried that through. He has allayed a lot of people's fears. I thank him for his ongoing engagement with people in Tuam. They speak highly of the Minister and his active engagement. It has not been an easy task.

I note in the memorandum attached to this order that: "The Government is satisfied that the remains discovered at the site in Tuam satisfy the conditions for the making of a Government Order as set out...[in] the Institutional Burials Action 2022" criteria. That is clear and it is very important.

It is a sad fact that it has been proven that the 20-chamber structure in which the juvenile remains were located was built within a decommissioned wastewater treatment tank and it was not a purpose-built burial chamber. That is a fact. The burials are uncoffined, buried collectively in a manner and location that is repugnant to common decency and would have been so considered even at the time the burials took place. The burial site did not provide for dignified burial of human remains and proposals set out for excavation, recovery, analysis, identification and reinterment are clearly appropriate and respectful and should be pursued.

The Minister embraced the issue previously. He again mentioned that he has met with relatives of persons buried at the site, with whom I have also engaged, and it is clear from them that clear, strong support was articulated for a DNA-based programme to identify remains where possible. That is difficult and challenging but DNA science is progressing and I believe it can be and should be pursued where practicable and possible. The order the Minister brings before us today is another part of the unearthing and unveiling of what happened to the children in Tuam in State-sponsored care. We owe it to them and the people of this country that we unearth the truth, given that so many children who were incarcerated in Tuam and in so many other places were disposed of in an inappropriate way. We must unveil the full story. It will only be part of it, but it is a journey we must continue, painful as it is, bearing in mind all the circumstances and all the people affected by these issues. It is the right thing to do. I hope that this work can be undertaken as soon as possible.

I thank the Minister and the previous Minister who did a lot of work on this issue. It is important to acknowledge that, and also the support of the staff in the Department. They are a particular group of people who have carried the burden of so much of this work. I acknowledge that and ask that the Minister would personally convey thanks for the support to them.