Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 March 2021
152. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reasoning that led to the exclusion of the boarded-out children from the investigation into the mother and baby homes. [13642/21]
View answer153. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the process by which the terms of reference for the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes were drafted in 2014. [13754/21]
View answer154. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the then acting Secretary General at the Department of Children and Youth Affairs had an input into the drafting of and discussions regarding the terms of reference for the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation in 2014 to 2015. [13755/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 152 to 154, inclusive, together.
The Terms of Reference for the Commission were developed in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004, and agreed by the then Government in 2015. The draft Government Order to establish the Commission was also approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas at that time.
The overarching objective in developing the terms of reference was to establish a statutory investigation capable of providing a full account of what happened in these institutions over the period 1922 to 1998. The approach taken involved a clear and deliberate emphasis on the experiences of women and children who resided in Mother and Baby Homes over the period.
In examining the exit pathways of children, Article 1(VII) of the terms of reference tasked the Commission with examining the nature of the relationship between Mother and Baby Homes and other key institutions – these included children’s homes; orphanages; and adoption societies. This involved the identification of patterns of referral and the practices and arrangements for the placement of children. It also included where an intermediary organisation was involved in arranging a subsequent placement.
The Commission’s final Report addresses important questions in relation to the practices for the placement of children that were in place during the period under investigation. The Commission was able to cross-reference information from the institutional records, State records, testimony from witnesses and evidence from other sources.
For this reason, it is not accurate to suggest that the experiences of persons who were boarded were excluded from the Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters). This is evident in the 77 pages of detailed analysis on related matters in Chapter 11 - Boarded Out Children of the Commission's Final Report.
The process of developing the detailed terms of reference for the Commission was led by the then Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and supported by a high level Inter-Departmental Group on Mother and Baby Homes.
Following a motion approved by Dail Eireann on 11 June 2014, which committed to the establishment of a Commission of Investigation, the then Minister engaged in a comprehensive scoping process to define the appropriate scope and format for this investigation. The Minister was assisted by an Inter-Departmental Group established with the task of gathering relevant information and reporting to Government on the means by which these complex matters could be investigated.
The role of the Inter-Departmental Group was to inform the Government's deliberations on the scope, format and terms of reference of the Commission of Investigation. The Group comprised of representatives from eight Departments and the Attorney General's Office and was chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The process drew upon a number of cited secondary sources, in particular a number of published social histories, to complement information from records held by the Department of Health and the General Registrar’s Office.
The Group's Report was published in July 2014 and is available on my Department's website. This initial examination served to highlight the complexity of the issue and the volume of records that were potentially relevant to the work of the Commission.
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs also had regard to his consultations with opposition parties, key stakeholders and the response to the call for submissions on the Terms of Reference, all of which informed the Government’s considerations. I understand that over one hundred submissions were received.
The scope of the investigation, including the Commission’s terms of reference, were decided by Government on the advice of the then Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.
