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President Michael D Higgins has signed into law the Mother and Baby Homes bill, but noted that concerns were raised during the debate that “are serious and must be addressed.”
A statement issued tonight said that the President followed the approval of the bill by both Houses of the Oireachtas and “listened carefully to the debate and the questions raised regarding the 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 need to be addressed, the bill itself did not directly raise an appropriate constitutional issue for a remission of Article 26.1.1,” he said the notice.
The statement added that: “The president’s decision to sign this legislation leaves any citizen open to challenge the provisions of the bill in the future.”
On Thursday, the government won a key vote in the Dáil on the controversial legislation by a substantial margin of 78 votes to 67.
In September, the Mother and Baby Household Investigation Commission said tailor-made legislation would be required to safeguard and transfer a database of mothers and children residing in primary mother and baby homes.
The bill mandated that the database be sent to Tusla, raising concerns among former residents of the homes and their families about their ability to access information held by the Agency for Children and Families.
Under a 2004 law, the remaining files will be sealed for 30 years.
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