Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State will be aware, a new planning application was recently lodged for an apartment scheme on the former Bessborough mother and baby home site in Cork city. This application is one of a number of live planning applications for developments across this estate. This recently lodged application for a 92-unit scheme was lodged by the same developer who had previously been refused planning permission from An Bord Pleanála following an oral hearing in 2021. The refusal at that time was because the board was not satisfied that the site was not previously used as and does not contain a children's burial ground and considered that there were reasonable concerns in respect of the potential for a children's burial ground within the site associated with the former use of the lands as a mother and baby home from 1922 to 1998.

The Cork Survivors and Supporters Alliance, CSSA, led objections to the previous proposal and has suggested that no development permission should be granted until the areas marked out in historic maps as children's burial sites have been under public ownership and have been managed as a public cemetery. Senator Ruane and I agree. This has not yet occurred. While this application relates to separate parts of the site, the CSSA has concerns about the fact that there seems to be a potential dispersal of human remains throughout the Bessborough site. It emerged in the 2021 An Bord Pleanála oral hearing that topsoil from the land had also been disturbed. The site in question partially surrounds an enclosure that surrounds a folly and a graveyard. This creates particular vulnerabilities around that site. The developer has claimed that there is no basis to suggest the proposed development site contains a burial ground, despite the fact that the commission of investigation concluded that it is highly likely that burials took place on the grounds of Bessborough.The Minister will be aware of the mortality rates in Bessborough. They are shocking, even when compared to the mortality rates in other mother and baby homes across the country. A huge percentage of children in care there died. We know of 923 children who are understood to have died in care of Bessborough, even though only 64 burial records have been located. This means there are at least 859 children whose burial places were not recorded.

The commission of investigation referred to the highly likely fact that those burials took place within the grounds of Bessborough. The commission has also said the only way this could be established is by a systematic excavation of the property. The Minister, however, has advised that there are no plans to establish an office of authorised intervention in respect of an excavation, as is planned in the case of Tuam, due to the difficulty in identifying the specific burial places of children. This decision has caused a great deal of disappointment and hurt for survivors and relatives, who believed, in good faith, that the Institutional Burials Act 2022 would have brought closure and justice.

I must express disappointment because during the process of the scrutiny and passing of this Act, our group tabled several amendments specifically concerning Bessborough to ensure it would be covered. We were told those amendments were not necessary, yet after the Act was passed we were told that, in fact, Bessborough would not be covered or included. The Minister of State will be aware that we have a Bill on the Order Paper now to amend the criteria in respect of burial grounds and the Institutional Burials Act to ensure situations such as Bessborough would be covered. The crucial issue is what actions the Government and the Minister plan to undertake. He previously intervened in making observations on planning applications, but we are concerned about what methods exist to ensure that the rights of those affected are reflected and that we do not see inappropriate development on this site.