Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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5. To ask the Taoiseach his views on retracting the State apology given after the mother and baby homes report was finalised. [6979/21]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was considered by Government and published on 12 January.

On 13 January, I issued a formal apology in the Dáil on behalf of the State for the hurt experienced by many former residents of Mother and Baby Institutions and County Homes. I apologised for the profound generational wrong visited upon Irish mothers and their children who ended up in a Mother and Baby Home or a County Home and for the shame and stigma which they were subjected to. As part of that apology I acknowledged that the State had failed in its duty of care to the mothers and children who spent time in these institutions.

This apology was one of the first steps taken by Government to respond to the findings of the report. The overall response is being driven by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the priority now is to plan and advance a wide range of actions across the following themes, which are in addition to the apology that already issued:

- A survivor-centred approach

- Access to Personal Information

- Archiving and Databases

- Education and Research

- Memorialisation

- Restorative Recognition

- Dignified Burial.