Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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352. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the case for reassignment of funds (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9461/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I understand that the Deputy is referring to capital funding of €500,000 which the Department of Education has, for a number of years, ring-fenced for the purpose of establishing a national memorial for children who were victims of abuse in residential institutions, which was one of the recommendations contained in the Final Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, the Ryan Report, published in 2009.

This funding was separate to the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund of approximately €110m which was established following the publication of the Ryan Report, and from which funding supports were provided to survivors.

A number of previous initiatives to establish the memorial have been unsuccessful, due to both a lack of consensus regarding the nature of such a memorial and issues relating to planning. This included a proposal to develop a specific memorial integrated with the Garden of Remembrance.

Since the publication of the Ryan Report, separate investigations into the Magdalen Laundries and the Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions have taken place, and it is clear that there were referral pathways between the various institutions and that some individuals transferred from one type of institution to another over time.

As the Deputy will be aware, Government has approved proposals for the development of a National Centre for Research and Remembrance in Dublin 1. The Centre will be comprised of a number of elements including –

• a museum and exhibition space, the development of which will be led by the National Museum of Ireland;
• a research centre and repository of records related to institutional trauma in the 20th century, which will form part of the National Archives;
• a place for reflection and remembrance;
• social housing; and
• educational and community facilities.