Written answers

Wednesday, 21 October 2020

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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173. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of witnesses who appeared before the Confidential Committee of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation. [31943/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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174. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of witnesses who appeared before the Investigative Committee of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation. [31944/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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175. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of witnesses who appeared before the Confidential Committee were subsequently referred to the Investigative Committee of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation. [31945/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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176. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of written testimonies received by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation. [31946/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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177. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of witnesses who gave either oral or written testimony to the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation that were covered by the Commission’s Terms of Reference [31947/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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178. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of anonymised witness testimonies that will be included in the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report. [31948/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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179. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if anonymised witness testimonies will be reproduced in full in the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report. [31949/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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180. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if witness testimonies from the Confidential Committee of the Commission will be in the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report. [31950/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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181. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if witness testimonies from the Investigative Committee of the Commission will be in the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report. [31951/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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182. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if written witness testimonies submitted to the Commission will be in the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report. [31952/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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183. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if written or oral testimonies from witnesses not covered by the Commission’s terms of reference will be in the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report. [31953/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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184. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the Commission has contacted witnesses to inform them that their testimonies will be included in the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report [31954/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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185. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the Commission has contacted witnesses to ask permission for their testimonies to be included in the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report. [31955/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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186. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the Commission has contacted witnesses to ascertain their wishes regarding anonymisation of their testimonies in the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report. [31956/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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187. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the methodology used by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission to pick extracts from the testimonies. [31957/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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188. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the methodology used to give summaries of testimonies. [31958/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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189. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of witnesses the Commission gave evidence to in view of the provisions of section 12 (1) of the 2004 Act (details supplied). [31959/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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190. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the methodologies used by the Commission to decide on the evidence to give or withhold from witnesses in view of the provisions of section 12(1) of the 2004 Act (details supplied). [31960/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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191. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if State papers in their original form examined by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation that were previously accessible under the National Archives Acts 1986 and 2018 have been returned to the National Archives and will remain accessible to members of the public. [31961/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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192. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the date by which all State papers in their original form examined by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation will be returned to the National Archives and be available for public inspection under the National Archives Acts 1986 and 2018. [31962/20]

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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193. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if personal and administrative records normally held by Tusla and other bodies in their original form examined by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation have been returned to the original record holders. [31963/20]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 173 to 193, inclusive, together.

The Deputy has sought responses to a series of questions on the methodology and approach of the Commission of investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters in conducting its investigations.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Commission is independent of Government in the conduct of it investigation. This independence, which is provided for in law, is a fundamental principle in the establishment of a statutory inquiry under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. As the specified Minister for receiving its report, I have no role or influence in its work.

In accordance with section 10 of the 2004 Act, the Commission may, subject to the Act and the Commission's rules and procedures, conduct its investigation in the manner that it considers appropriate in the circumstances of the case. The Commission is required to submit its final report to me by the 30th October and it is reasonable to expect that many of the procedural and other issues raised by the Deputy will be addressed in the final report.

The Commission's archive will not include any original State records. The Commission received or created copies of relevant records in the course of its inquiries. The original State records remain in the possession of the relevant host organisation. Access to these records is governed by statue, and no changes are proposed to these arrangements.

In relation to the Confidential Committee module, articles 3 and 4 of the Commission's Terms of Reference prescribe how the Confidential Committee must conduct its business and how this should be reported. Again, for the reasons already stated, I have no details of who was required to engage with the Commission, the numbers and manner or format of their engagement, or the methodology applied by the Committee or the Commission in is this regard. The Commission has recently advised that the personal testimonies provided by individuals to this Committee will be included in the final report in an anonymised manner.

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