Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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967. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to establish a State inquiry into the practice of illegal adoptions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63815/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Recommendation 17 of the report by the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection was that a State inqu iry into illegal adoptions (broadly defined) should be established on a non-statutory basis.

The question of creating an effective non-statutory inquiry is a sensitive, complex and challenging one. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges this and, in particular, notes the challenges associated with access to records for a non-statutory inquiry.

In this regard, it is also important to note that some of the actions set out in the Government Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutionsachieve some of the objectives of a Truth Commission as proposed by the Special Rapporteur.

In March of this year, Government approved high-level proposals for a National Centre for Research and Remembrance. The National Centre will stand as a site of conscience and will be designed to be an enduring and educational memorial to honour all those who were resident in Industrial Schools, Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalen Laundries and related institutions. The National Centre will be located on the site of the former Magdalen Laundry in Sean MacDermott Street in Dublin city centre and will have an inclusive, national and global reach.

The Centre will comprise a number of distinct, yet interrelated, areas, including a museum and exhibition space, the development of which will be led by the National Museum of Ireland, as well as a research centre and central repository of records related to institutional trauma in the 20th century, which will form part of the National Archives. It is anticipated that the central repository will sit at the heart of the Centre and will ultimately be underpinned by legislation. One unique aspect of the central repository will be the intended inclusion of the personal testimonies of survivors; allowing the lived experiences of survivors to be formally recognised as part of the official record. Inclusion of the personal testimonies of survivors will ensure that the lived experiences of survivors will be captured in their own words, for publication and archiving for posterity in the National Centre.

The centralised archive of institutional records and personal testimony will, in turn, support further future analysis and research on these important matters.

As a consequence of all of this ongoing work, the Government will need to give further consideration to the specific recommendation on the establishment of a Truth Commission.

Finally, I would note that An Garda Síochána is tasked with investigating all criminal offences reported to it and they have confirmed to my Department that they will have no difficulty doing so where any person who considers themselves a victim of illegal birth registration or illegal adoption practice wishes to report any such case.