Mother and Baby Homes report publication delayed until New Year

Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman said his department "contacted former residents earlier today to tell them of planned publication arrangements."

The Cabinet will not approve publication of the much-anticipated Mother and Baby Homes report until mid-January.

The report, which was expected to be published in recent weeks, will now not go before Cabinet until the week commencing Monday, January 11, Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman has said.

The matter was raised in the Dáil this morning and Mr O'Gorman said he received the final 3,000-page report at the end of October, and moves to publish it are now at 'an advanced stage'.

"I wish to confirm today that I will be bringing a memorandum to Government in the week of January 11 next, seeking approval to publish the report immediately," he said.

"I also intend to publish the sixth interim report from the commission at the same time.

"I recognise how important it is that former residents and their families are the first to be notified about plans to publish the report and how to access it.

"My department contacted former residents earlier today to tell them of planned publication arrangements."

Mr O'Gorman also said he will be bringing a memorandum to Cabinet to proceed with the "Certain Historic Burials (Authorised Interventions) Bill, which will allow for exhumation and dignified reburial of the site at Tuam."

He said:" Pending Cabinet approval, this Bill will then proceed through the Oireachtas."

Separately, Mr O’Gorman has written to stakeholders informing them of the timeline for publication.

The letter, seen by the Irish Examiner, states that Mr O’Gorman has “listened to the views expressed regarding publication of the Commission’s final report, and I am conscious of the understandable anxiety surrounding the timescale for publication.”

“I am therefore writing today to inform you it is my intention to publish the final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes on the week commencing January 11, 2021,” he said.

“In line with the commitments made to former residents and their families, it is important that you are the first to be notified of the plans to publish the report and how to access it,” the minister wrote.

This morning, I confirmed that the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes will be published on the week of January 11th.

I hope this offers some certainty and reassurance to the many people who will be affected by the Report's publication. pic.twitter.com/SWp9ApOnUB

— Roderic O’Gorman TD (@rodericogorman) December 3, 2020

As required, he said he will be bringing forward a Memorandum to Cabinet seeking approval to publish the final report, and the Commission’s Sixth Interim report.

“After the Cabinet meeting, An Taoiseach and I will host an online presentation for former residents to outline some of the key findings from the report, along with details of the initial Government response,” he wrote.

Mr O’Gorman said he thinks publication of the report will be a landmark moment for the many thousands of former residents, their families and advocates, in particular those who directly contributed to the Commission’s work by sharing their deeply personal and lived experiences. 

The report is nearly 3,000 pages long with individual chapters for each of the institutions and specific issues which the Commission was tasked with examining, he said.

“Closer to the day of publication, a further email will issue clarifying the time and date, with links to allow you to connect to the event and access the Report,” he concluded.