Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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264. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 19 of 11 June 2017, the progress on the issues raised; her plans for the provision of specialist expertise; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30362/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I have appointed a team of international technical experts to produce an advisory Technical Report for Government to help inform the decisions which need to be taken in relation to the burial site associated with the former home in Tuam.

The team is led by Consultant Forensic Archaeologist Niamh McCullagh. Ms McCullagh is an Irish based expert with extensive national and international experience, including work with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains in Ireland. Significantly, Ms. McCullagh already has a detailed understanding of the site as she led the Commission team which located, identified and conducted the preliminary excavations of the burial chambers in Tuam.

Her team of experts will includes Hugh Tuller, a Forensic Anthropologist from the United States, and Dr. Tim Clayton, a Forensic Scientist from the United Kingdom who is world renowned in the field of DNA testing. The team has commenced its work and will also consult with additional Irish and international experts as it considers appropriate.

The Terms of Reference of the expert group's work are available on my Department's website at www.dcya.gov.ie .

I have asked the team to submit a Technical Report on the Tuam Site with detailed work on options for the future and what these would involve from a practical perspective, by the end of September. I have requested that the team provide its technical advice in layperson's language in order that we can all understand the options for the site and what each such option would entail.

This Report will help us have a informed consultation on the future of the site and help to answer the many important questions raised by the Deputy.