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THE MINISTER FOR CHILDREN has pledged to reexamine legislation that could put mother and baby home records out of reach of survivors for 30 years.
Roderic O’Gorman proposed an amendment to the proposed legislation that would allow victims to choose whether they want their name registered or remain anonymous.
He made the compromise as the bill was debated in the Dáil today and DTs expressed concern about the bill, which would see a database of information compiled by the Commission on Homes for Mothers and Babies provided to the agency of Tusla children and families.
The remaining records would be sealed for 30 years under a 2004 law.
It would mean that the documents are hidden from the families.
The bill is being accelerated through the Oireachtas before the commission publishes its final report at the end of the month.
It passed all stages of the Seanad last week, but senators and TD have voiced opposition to passing the legislation.
O’Gorman said he was “well aware” of his responsibility as a minister to “do the right thing with the survivors of maternal and child homes, as well as with their families.”
“This is not ancient history, it is a very real trauma, very vivid for many people in this country,” he said.
The Green Party TD said he understood the anxiety felt by those affected by the homes of mothers and babies and acknowledges all the people who contacted him and other politicians about the issue in recent weeks.
While he said that much of the debate had “combined the genuine objectives of this bill with existing pre-existing legal requirements regarding the sealing of Commission records for 30 years,” he added that it was “impossible” to ignore the volume of correspondence he had received.
“It has become very clear to me this week that while I believe it is vital for survivors and their families that we enact this legislation to allow this database to be preserved, the bill has highlighted other very real serious concerns to be heard. “, He said.
“These concerns center on how the 30-year archive of records required by the Commission of Inquiry on Maternal and Child Homes impacts the legitimate expectation of survivors and family members to access important information related to the circumstances of their time in these institutions.
It is clear that the current approach to how access to the archives of this commission is provided for certain personal validation information of survivors needs to be re-examined.
The Dublin West TD said it had requested a detailed engagement with the Attorney General’s office and would also ask the joint Oireachtas committee on children to lead the review to explore the main principles of access to information and make recommendations.
He said he was committed to “finding a way forward” and his intention remained to pass the bill through homes urgently to safeguard the database while survivors “do the right thing.”
The minister added that the legislation was necessary to address legal issues related to the registries before the Commission is dissolved on October 30.
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Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald told Dáil that what happened behind the high walls of the homes of mothers and babies “cast a long and very dark shadow over our country” and that the government “had no right” to save the records.
Dublin Central TD said: “Women and children, many placed by the state in these institutions were abused and exploited, they were stigmatized, vilified, considered marginalized from society.”
He said society would never fully understand the “horror, pain” that the victims experienced and that “the veil of secrecy” had to be “abandoned forever.”
He also said that he appreciated that the archive was protected intact, but said that the “miserable cry” of a child snatched from its mother’s arms should also be heard.
The Sinn Féin president claimed that O’Gorman’s position was “contradictory.”
“Whatever your intention, the net effect of your course of action is that these files will be sealed for 30 years,” he said.
“You say that the whole process and those who came to tell stories and with information had the guarantee of privacy and they did so, but no one was guaranteed secrecy and you should not maintain that focus.”
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