Written answers

Thursday, 11 May 2017

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries

Photo of Donnchadh Ó LaoghaireDonnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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31. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of her commitment to a process of transitional justice for survivors of mother and baby homes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22307/17]

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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My commitment to a Transitional Justice approach is intended to directly support the cohort of unmarried mothers and their children who were resident for a time in a Mother and Baby Home or County Home. While the independent statutory investigation progresses its work, I wish to develop complementary gender-sensitive transitional justice mechanisms which could support and empower former residents of these institutions and their families. The focus will be to further acknowledge the experiences of former residents and to enhance public awareness and understanding of a range of past abuses and human rights failures.

As previously outlined I have asked Dr. James Gallen of the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, to map out a potential model of ‘transitional justice’ as a means of giving voice to former residents of Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes. Dr Gallen is currently preparing a framework document to inform my deliberations which will be submitted to the Department in the coming weeks.

The work of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters is a vital step in the process to establish the facts of what happened to vulnerable women and children in these institutions. The transitional justice approach is intended to complement the work already significantly advanced by the Commission.

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