Pat Casey (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to the House again.

Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | 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.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. We are conscious that the uncertainty regarding the burial place of many children who were resident at the former mother and baby institution in Bessborough is difficult for the families concerned. The investigation of burial arrangements in mother and baby institutions, including Bessborough, was an important part of the work of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters.

Regarding Bessborough, the commission concluded it is likely that some of the children who died at the institution are buried in the grounds but, despite extensive investigation, it was unable to find any physical or documentary evidence of this. The Government's response to the legacy of these institutions is set out in the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby Home and County Home Institutions, which was published last November. Action 22 of the plan commits the Government to advancing the burials legislation to support intervention at the institutional sites where manifestly inappropriate burials have been discovered. It also commits to encouraging local authorities to provide protections within development plan processes for burials sites in their areas that may be linked to former mother and baby or county homes. I can confirm that, in line with the commitments in the action plan, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has written to all city and county councils requesting that development plan processes give adequate consideration to incorporating appropriate measures to ensure the protection of unrecorded burial sites associated with an institution.

The circular also notes that local authorities, acting as planning authorities, may attach conditions to potential development as appropriate in the circumstances. The Minister has also established a working group of departmental and local authority officials to consider issues at local level in relation to memorialisation, including memorialisation of known burial sites. Proposed developments in the grounds of Bessborough are a matter for the relevant planning authorities, Cork City Council in this instance. The Minister, Deputy O' Gorman, has previously emphasised that any proposed development should give adequate consideration to the views of survivors and families members and the potential need for further investigations relating to works commencing on the site.

The recent communication to local authorities from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further emphasises this point. Should manifestly inappropriate burials be discovered at the Bessborough site, the Institutional Burials Act, which the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, commenced in July this year, provides an underlying legislative basis for an excavation, recovery and reburial of the remains. The legislation was developed in response to the abhorrent situation at the site of the former mother and baby institution in Tuam, County Galway, where it was confirmed that the remains of children had been discovered that were interred in a manifestly inappropriate manner and the Government was advised that a full forensic-standard excavation, recovery and identification of those remains could not take place under current legislation. To avoid delays in responding to any similar situations that may arise in the future, the Institutional Burials Act is not site-specific and also allows for interventions at other sites should manifestly inappropriate burials be discovered. In the case of Bessborough, the location of burials is, sadly, unknown.

Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Institutional Burials Act failed Bessborough. We talk about general provisions but we are also talking about specific sites. Bessborough was known to be one of the areas where concerns have been raised about inappropriate burials and where we have more than 800 children unaccounted for. These children are known to be dead but are unaccounted for. Choices were made in this regard. During the debate on the legislation, we were assured that Bessborough would be covered and that there was no need for amendments. In fact, we have now been told that it is not covered. This is a fact. The Act made choices and this is why we have proposed a Bill to amend the Institutional Burials Act 2022 in order that the director of authorised intervention would be empowered to engage in cases where there may not be precise burial sites identified but where inappropriate burials are highly likely to have taken place.

With respect, to simply prove this to local authorities in a general sense is not adequate. We know that if these developments are allowed to take place then the opportunity for intervention will be lost. It may well be that the burials were not systematic, because the fact that they were not recorded is a part of the disrespect in this regard. It is important, however, that there are interventions at this point. It is not adequate to simply talk about development plans in the abstract when we have a real travesty in the case of Bessborough that the State should step up to address. What formal processes has the Department in mind to tease out the complexities of Bessborough? I recognise that a range of survivors have wishes. Those who wish to see memorialisation certainly do not wish to see inappropriate development nor do those who wish to see excavation of the burial places of their relatives.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. In her opening remarks, I think she said there was a live application and that this has gone in. In the remarks I delivered on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, he has been clear about what he has done. He has engaged with all the local authorities and made it clear to them what he has set out. Without complete and utter interference, he has been clear about what is laid out in the context of the local authorities. While this is a live application, I assume that the planner looking at it, whomever it is, will also be alert to what came into being when the Act commenced in July 2022 bears relevance to the Bessborough site, as it does to other sites as well. In fairness to the Minister, he has engaged with the local authorities. We can see as well how various other Ministers have written to the local authorities. I ask again that the officials in the local authorities read that circular and be familiar with it when they are making decisions.