Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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50. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the establishment of a truth commission relating to institutions such as mother and baby institutions, industrial schools, county homes, and Magdalen laundries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15207/17]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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59. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will report on her discussions regarding revealing and establishing the truth concerning institutions such as Magdalen laundries and mother and baby institutions; the expected timeframe for a process for this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15208/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 and 59 together.

I recognise the heightened demand for a thorough and holistic understanding of events and experiences following confirmation of the discovery of human remains on the former site of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home. Before we commence such a process, it is important that we do not lose sight of the breadth and considerable scope of the Commission's existing terms of reference and the specific matters which this House sought to be investigated in the public interest.

The function of a Commission of Investigation is to establish the facts. The three Reports of the Commission into Mother and Baby Homes which are due for completion by February 2018, namely, the Social History Report; the Confidential Committee Report, and the Investigative Report, will be critically important in this regard. The Reports will assist us in trying to come to terms with how Irish society responded to vulnerable women and their children at a time when they most needed our support and assistance.

Notably, the Confidential Committee forum was specifically designed to facilitate former residents of these homes who may wish to provide accounts of their experience, and to assist the Commission to ground its work in the reality of the experience of mothers and children.

In recent days, I have committed to exploring the potential for the application of a range of transitional justice mechanisms to acknowledge the experiences of former residents and further enhance public awareness and understanding of a range of past abuses and human rights failures. Any additional mechanism must be complimentary to and properly align with the work of the Commission on Mother and Baby Homes, which is already deep into its program of work. I have begun a process of consultation on how this work could proceed and that dialogue is continuing.