Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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203. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if he will consider extending the DNA testing to family members who are cousins to identify remains at the mother and baby home in Tuam as a result of advancements in the science of DNA testing since the Bill was enacted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39878/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In October 2022 the Government made an Order under the Institutional Burials Act 2022 to direct an intervention at the site of the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam, Co. Galway. The Government Order specifies that the functions of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam include carrying out an Identification Programme to seek to establish familial links. In March 2023 the Office of Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam was formally established and in May Mr Daniel MacSweeney was appointed to the position of Tuam Director to head up the Office.

Following extensive preparation including completing preliminary groundworks, main works to excavate the site forensically have just commenced. Work is also underway by the Director to get the Identification Programme up and running so that DNA can be taken from family members as soon as possible to help identify remains.

In the meantime, if a family member is not in a position to wait for the Identification Programme to begin, because of serious concerns about their age or health status, arrangements have been put in place so that samples can be taken on a purely voluntary basis, under an Administrative Scheme managed by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.

For the purposes of the Identification Programme, the Institutional Burials Act defines an eligible family member as a person who has reasonable grounds to believe that he/she is a child, parent, sibling, half-sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew (whether of the whole blood or the half-blood), grand-niece or grand-nephew of the person who is buried at an intervention site.

In developing the legislation, the list of family members who can participate in the Identification Programme was significantly expanded from what was set out in the original General Scheme.

The Act takes full account of recommendations put forward during the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny process and reflects a further expansion that was made during the legislative process in line with scientific advice. That advice outlined a justification for the expansion of the list of eligible family members in line with technological developments but highlighted scientific challenges in relation to the inclusion of cousins.

It should be noted that the legislation provides that family members, not limited to the participants in an Identification Programme, are provided with regular updates on developments at the site by the Director. In addition, final arrangements for remains that are recovered but not identified will have regard to the wishes of persons who believe they have family members buried at the site.