President Higgins Signs Mother-Baby Homes Bill

PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins signed the Mother-Baby Homes bill after he “considered all the options available to him.”

The controversial bill, passed last week in the Dáil the Seanad, allows the transfer of a database of 60,000 records created by the Commission of Investigation into Homes of Mothers and Babies to Tusla, the Agency for Children and Families.

Many survivors and legal experts have expressed anger at the bill and have asked the president to refuse to make it law.

Under the Constitution, the President may, after consultation with the Council of State, refer any bill to the Supreme Court if it raises a constitutional issue under article 26.1.1 of the Constitution.

In a statement last night, President Higgins said he had carefully considered all constitutional and other aspects of the legislation and “considered all the options available to him.” He said that he had listened carefully to the debate and the issues raised regarding rights of access to information presented to a Commission.

“While it was noted that the discussion of this bill raised important concerns that are serious and must be addressed, the bill itself did not directly raise an appropriate constitutional issue for a referral of Art 26.1.1,” he said the notice. The president confirmed that he had signed the bill into law.

The statement also noted that when considering any law, the President must also be aware of the fact that no court can challenge the validity of any legislation after a referral from the President to the Supreme Court.

“The president’s decision to sign this legislation leaves any citizen open to challenge the provisions of the bill in the future.”