Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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18. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when the fifth interim report of the Commission of Investigation into the Mother and Baby Homes will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14496/19]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) submitted a Fifth Interim Report to me on 15 March 2019.

I intend to seek formal Government approval to publish the report. In advance of this I will consult the Attorney General. Subject to this advice and approval, it is my intention to publish the report prior to Easter.

The dignity and memory of those who died in these institutions is central to my approach to these matters. I am mindful of the expectations of their families for an early publication date of the report.

It is a substantial report which focuses on the burial arrangements of persons who died while resident in these institutions. The report includes extensive technical reports prepared in the course of the Commission’s investigations into the burial site associated with the institution formerly known as the Tuam Mother and Baby Home and the Commission’s assessment of burial arrangements in respect of a number of other institutions within its remit.

It also reports on burial arrangements in circumstances where the remains were initially transferred to educational institutions for anatomical examination.

My Department will advise representative groups, and those who have been in contact with my Department on these matters, of developments prior to the publication of the report.

Given the importance and sensitivity of these matters, I do not propose to comment further on the contents of the report in advance of it being made public.