Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

519. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide an update on the Government’s consultation with survivor groups on memorialisation and archives; if she will confirm if survivors will have full decision-making input into the location and management of any national archive or memorial site; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53210/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In March 2022, Government approved high-level proposals for a National Centre for Research and Remembrance, to be located on Sean McDermott Street in Dublin 1. This Centre will stand as a site of conscience to honour equally all those who were resident in Industrial Schools, Magdalen Laundries, Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions, Reformatories, and related institutions. In addition to a museum and exhibition space, and a garden space for reflection and remembrance, it will include a repository of records related to institutional trauma in the 20th century which will form part of the National Archives.

The masterplan and preliminary business case for the National Centre campus were approved in 2023/24. Planning permission for the development was granted by Dublin City Council in February 2025 and enabling works are now underway at the site.

It is important to note that the planning application relates to the overall, high-level building design and structure. Detail on what will be contained in the main National Centre buildings has not yet been decided and work with survivors and affected persons is ongoing in this regard.

The National Centre Steering Group, which is driving the overall coordinated development of the National Centre, recognises that it is crucial the National Centre project is informed by all relevant stakeholders. The Steering Group held an initial, open written consultation between July and September 2023. This was followed by a series of in-person and one online engagement events between October 2024 and February 2025. The key theme emerging from both rounds of consultation was the need for survivor representation and involvement at all levels of the project.

Following the initial consultation, the Steering Group was expanded to include the Special Advocate for Survivors. In June 2025 the Steering Group published its commitments in response to the further feedback received through the in-person and online engagement sessions. These included commitments to expand the Steering Group to include four survivor representatives; to establish panels of survivors and affected persons to inform the development of the museum element; to the appointment of at least one survivor representative to serve on the National Archives Advisory Council and to a central role for survivors in the governance of the National Centre when it has opened.

An expression of interest process for the positions on the steering group and the museum panels ran during August and September 2025.