We, the undersigned, express serious reservations about the recently published draft terms of reference of the forthcoming southern Irish inquiry into mother and baby homes, and related matters.

Protestant children who were sent to the Westbank orphanage in Greystones, Co Wicklow, were not told that other residents were their brothers or sisters, mainly lived on baby food and were beaten with clothes hangers and electrical cables.

Northern Protestants who became pregnant outside of marriage were sent to Dublin’s Bethany Home "as a punishment, to add to their shame and to hide the family problem," according to a support group representing the home’s survivors.