Written answers

Thursday, 25 September 2014

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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21. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will initiate a comprehensive examination of the State's treatment of women and their children born outside marriage, rather than a narrow inquiry into certain mother and baby homes in the interests of full justice and accountability for these citizens who were gravely wronged. [35433/14]

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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This Government is committed to establishing a comprehensive and effective Commission of Investigation into matters relating to Mother and Baby Homes in accordance with the Motion passed in this House on the 11th June last.

This Motion focused on a number of specific concerns, including that Dáil Eireann "acknowledges the need to establish the facts regarding the deaths of almost 800 children at the Bon Secours Sisters institution in Tuam, County Galway between 1925 and 1961, including arrangements for the burial of these children; acknowledges that there is also a need to examine other "mother and baby homes" operational in the State in that era and recognises the plight of the mothers and children who were in these homes as a consequence of the failure of religious institutions, the State, communities and families to cherish the children of the nation in the way they should have been cherished and cared for".

Considerable progress has been achieved since this Motion was passed to advance the necessary legislative and operational arrangements to establish a statutory investigation. The specific matters to be investigated are being considered as part of Government’s deliberations in order to finalise an overall scope for the Commission's investigation which is workable and effective.

The Inter-Departmental Group’s Report on Mother and Baby Homes, which I published on the 16th July, has served to stimulate and further inform public debate on these important matters. Given breadth and scale of the issues identified in the Report, and our experience of previous statutory inquiries, the importance of providing the Commission with precise terms of reference should not be underestimated. Discussions in this regard are on-going with my Government colleagues and the Attorney General with a view to finalising our deliberations in early course.

As part of the process it is my intention to arrange further opportunities for engagement with key stakeholders in order to update them on the emerging issues and seek their further views.

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