Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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996. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she has employed an independent medical person to review medical files from mother and baby homes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1522/19]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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My Department does not hold any medical files from these institutions. Consequently, I have no plans to employ an independent medical person to review such matters.

The Government established the statutory Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) to independently examine a broad range of concerns relating to the care and welfare arrangements for those who spent time in these institutions. The following matters are specifically being investigated:

- Living conditions and care arrangements in these institutions;

- Mortality among mothers and children to determine general causes, circumstances and rates;

- Post-mortem practices and procedures; the reporting of deaths, burial arrangements and the transfer of remains for anatomical examination;

- Compliance with relevant regulatory and ethical standards in relation to systemic vaccine trials identified by the Commission as being conducted on children in these homes;

- Entry arrangements and exit pathways for mothers and children, patterns of referral and relevant relationships with other entities; and

- The extent to which any group of residents may have been treated differently on any grounds, including race, disability and religion.

The Commission's detailed terms of reference are attached as a schedule to Statutory Instrument No. 57 of 2015. The Commission may directly appoint such experts as it considers necessary to assist it in its investigations.