Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 June 2014
75. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if a Garda investigation has been launched into the treatment, death and burial of children at the Bon Secours mother and baby home, Tuam, County Galway, between 1925 and 1961. [26755/14]
View answerI am, of course, deeply concerned at the distressing circumstances surrounding the operation of Mother and Baby Homes, including the Home at Tuam. As the Deputy will be aware, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs recently announced the Government's intention to establish a Commission of Investigation to examine these complex issues. An interdepartmental group has been established and has met on a number of occasions. The group is to bring a report to the Government shortly which will inform decisions on the terms of reference for this Commission.
My Department is participating fully as required in this process, and, at my request, the Garda authorities have been of assistance in gathering certain information in respect of issues relating to the former St. Mary's Mother and Baby Home at Tuam. This has involved inquiries in the local area concerning the site and its history, with a view to establishing an overview of the issues and identifying relevant sources of information which may be of assistance to the Commission once established. These inquiries have confirmed that the area has been known locally as a burial ground for children who died while resident in the home and, although unmarked, has been cared for by local residents who have placed some memorial items there. The site in question is owned by Galway County Council, having been part of the lands on which the housing estate adjoining the site was built.
As part of these inquiries, Gardaí have made informal contact with two men widely reported as having discovered remains at the site while playing there as children, and both have spoken to Gardaí in relation to the location and circumstances of their discovery circa 1975. To date no records have been identified suggesting that this discovery was reported to the police or the Coroner at the time, and the account of the two men in question does not recall any such involvement. Gardaí have also made informal contact with the Bon Secours Order, as the body who managed the former Home, to establish general background information, which may be of assistance to the work of the Commission. Gardaí have also met with the local historian whose research has called attention to the deaths at the Home.
While these inquiries are ongoing and should be of assistance, the Deputy will appreciate, however, that the question of initiating a criminal investigation is a matter for the Garda authorities, and my understanding is that information which would warrant such an investigation has not at this point come to light. Furthermore, and following Garda contact with the local Coroner, who is independent in carrying out his functions, my understanding is that circumstances which would give rise to an inquiry by him under the Coroner's Act have also not arisen. In saying this I should of course make absolutely clear that while the question of any criminal or coroner's investigation is a matter for the relevant authorities, the need to carry out a broad inquiry into the circumstances at the Tuam Home, and at Mother and Baby Homes generally, is not in question and this is precisely what the Government has resolved to do in the form of a Commission of Investigation.
