Anger grows over mother and baby’s home records sealed for 30 years

The government has taken steps to try to quell growing anger over proposed measures to seal home records of mothers and babies for 30 years.

The Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman, has proposed two amendments to the controversial legislation on the home of the mother and the baby that will be debated in the Dáil tomorrow night. O’Gorman has drafted the amendments to address some of the ongoing controversy surrounding the bill, which would seal the survivors’ testimonies, along with the other records, for three decades.

The amendments, seen by the Irish Examiner, tries to tackle some of the main problems.

The first amendment will provide for the commission to continue to exist beyond the presentation of its final report to interact with survivors, to confirm who wants their story made public and who requests anonymity, so that all involved can be Accommodated and without delaying the presentation of its final report on October 30.

The second would see a copy of the database and related records deposited with the minister as part of the archive so that the commission’s records would be kept as a complete and unique archive.

This will maintain a single sealed file, while ensuring that the database and related records can be transferred to Tusla and remain available for use in accordance with current and future statutes.

One TD, who has seen the amendments, said: “I have never received as many phone calls in my time as TD as about this, and the public thinks that everything can be opened and they won’t be able to do that. I don’t know if this will satisfy people. They take care of some of the major problems, but I’m not sure they will calm the discontent. “

The Opposition has been deeply critical of the government’s intentions to seal the records, saying it will only further agony for survivors and their loved ones.

Cork South West TD Holly Cairns said the sealing of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission files will add more trauma to the survivors.

Speaking at Leinster House, the TD of the Social Democrats said that Taoiseach Micheál Martin now has a chance not to repeat the mistakes made in the past.

Ms Cairns said: “If this legislation is passed in its current form, we will see the archives of the Mother and Baby Homes commission sealed for 30 years. That commission was created in light that 600 babies were found in a disused septic tank, and these people have found no justice.

“This is being approved by the Dáil without a pre-legislative scrutiny. In this situation we are talking about the most horrendous abuse, ”he said.

But Ms Cairns made it clear that the survivors don’t want this to happen.

She said: “People should have the right to access their own data: human rights lawyers say it and the survivors themselves say it, and they are the people we must listen to.

“And if we don’t listen to the survivors, we have to ask ourselves the question: ‘Who are we listening to in this situation?’ ”

In the Seanad, Independent Senator Michael McDowell called for additional time to debate the legislation and said the House should debate the committee stage on Friday, leaving the report and the remaining stages for a later date. But McDowell said it was “false to say there is a rush to pass this legislation.”

The former Attorney General introduced an amendment to move to the reporting stage at a later date.

He said the commission “needs, wants and should have extra time” to deal with the significant additional administration involved in completing its work and introduced an amendment to order the business, but it was rejected by the government.