On 17 December, I agreed to settle eight judicial review cases in relation to the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in light of the evidence given by the applicants in the two lead cases to the Court on the procedural matter of being identifiable.
As part of this settlement, I published an acknowledgement alongside the Final Report stating that a number of survivors do not accept the accounts given in the Final Report as a true and full reflection of what they said to the Confidential Committee or the Commission of Investigation. I have always recognised the concerns of some survivors about the Final Report and this written statement formalises that acknowledgement.
In light of the evidence on identity presented to the Court by the applicants in the two lead cases, I also consented to a declaration that the Commission, by failing to provide the applicants, who were identifiable in the Final Report, with a draft of the report, or relevant part of the report, as required by section 34(1) of the Commission of Investigation Act 2004 prior to submitting the Final Report to me, acted in breach of statutory duty.
I hope that this settlement gives some comfort to the applicants.
The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes carried out a significant and wide-ranging statutory inquiry using powers under the Commissions of Investigation Act, 2004. It carried out its inquiry independent of Government, and relied on the testimony of hundreds of survivors and millions of pages of documentary evidence.
I recognise the courage of survivors and former residents of the Mother and Baby institutions in giving this testimony and thank them for their valuable contributions.
I appreciate that the findings and recommendations of the Commission are important to many survivors. While I acknowledge that specific paragraphs are not accepted by a number of survivors, I am also aware that some of those paragraphs may reflect the experiences and evidence of other survivors.
The proposals for the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme were developed taking a range of important matters into consideration, including the feedback from a public consultation process. The proposals take account of the recommendations in the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation, but also go well beyond these recommendations. In particular, the Scheme will include:
- Women who spent time in the institutions before and after 1974
- All children who spent more than six months in one of the institutions, regardless of whether they were ‘accompanied’ or ‘unaccompanied’
- All women regardless of the time spent in an institution.
Extensive engagement with survivors made it clear that it was a priority that the Scheme be non-adversarial, simple and require a low burden of proof. This is what the approved proposals for the Scheme seek to deliver.
Work is underway on the draft legislation required to establish the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme and through the legislative process there will be an opportunity to examine any issues or concerns that have been raised in relation to the Scheme.
In relation to inquests into deaths and disappearances, my Department does not have the authority to hold inquests. I am aware that An Garda Siochána carefully considered the Commission's final report and determined that there was insufficient information available in the report to commence criminal investigation. Coroners are independent public officials who have the general duty to hold an inquest if they are of the opinion that a death or deaths may have occurred in a violent or unnatural manner or happened suddenly and from unknown causes. The Coroners Act 1962 makes limited provision in respect of exhumation and removal of a body, providing only for the Minister for Justice to order an exhumation at the request of the Coroner if the Coroner is informed by a member of An Garda Síochána that a death or deaths may have occurred in a violent or unnatural manner.
The General Scheme of a Certain Institutional Burials (Authorised Interventions) Bill, which was approved and published in December 2019, was designed to provide the required legal basis for exhumation, identification and dignified reburial of the infants at the Tuam site and other locations should similar circumstances come to light. The decision to develop the legislation took into account the findings of an Expert Technical Group and the advice of the Attorney General, which underlined the need for a single statutory authority to oversee the full programme of intervention (including excavation, exhumation, identification and reinternment) required at Tuam, and other locations should similar circumstances come to light. The Bill underwent Pre-Legislative Scrutiny in the first half of 2021 and the Joint Oireachtas Committee published its report in July. I am currently carefully considering the recommendations from that process and hope to publish this Bill in the coming weeks.
The proposed legislation is intended to complement the Coroners Act 1962 by providing a mechanism for guaranteed intervention at the Tuam site. It will not remove the obligation on the coroner to hold an inquest where it is required under the 1962 Act and, importantly, where the remains show evidence of violent or unnatural death, the Director overseeing the intervention must immediately inform An Garda Síochána and the coroner within whose district the remains were recovered.
The Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions, which I published in November, sets out the full range of Government responses to the publication of the Commission’s report. In line with a core action in the plan, my Department has taken possession of the archive of the Commission, ensuring access to personal information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation. In addition, the Action Plan commits to the establishment of a National Memorial and Records Centre, which will include archiving relevant records and survivor accounts, as well as presenting the historical and social context.
