Weeks before scope of mother and baby homes inquiry is known

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone says she will know within weeks how a proposed broadening of the Commission of Inquiry into Mother and Baby Homes will look, as she noted: “The dead do not lie.”

Her pledge to widen the scope of the terms of reference of the inquiry came as her ministerial colleague John Halligan said old age should not diminish accountability in the Tuam mother and baby home scandal, arguing that any surviving Bon Secours nuns who ever worked at the home should be questioned by gardaí.

Ms Zappone said she has seen grown men cry in her presence in recent weeks regarding revelations from the past, as she suggested a way could be found that would entitle survivors of abuse — not just those who were resident in mother and baby homes — to tell their stories.