Mother and Baby Homes report 'very shocking' says Children's Minister

Childrens teddy's and toys along with flowers sit at the 'Little Angels' memorial plot in the grounds of Bessborough House in Blackrock, Cork. Picture: Laura Hutton 

The upcoming report into the Mother and Baby Homes is "very shocking", the Children's Minister has said.

The 3,000-page report compiled by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was submitted to Roderic O'Gorman in October and will be published next week after it is approved by Cabinet.

It will include the testimonies of people who lived and worked in 14 mother-and-baby centres and four county homes between the 1920s and the 1990s.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr O'Gorman said: "I think it would make difficult reading for everybody in the country and obviously for those who experienced life at a Mother and Baby Home, I think it will be it will be particularly difficult to read.

"The reports from the confidential committee, hearing these stories from women, the circumstances in which they became pregnant and the reaction of their family and the truth of the situation.

"To hear these stories again and again, it is deeply shocking.

"When you see the numbers of women who are going through the institutions, that's very shocking," said Mr O'Gorman.

I think it sheds light on that period of Irish history that hasn't been examined in any real detail. It sheds light on the failure of government, of the State, of the Church, but also society.

"So many families are prepared to allow their young daughters, pregnant through sometimes through rape, sometimes through even just basic lack of knowledge, that they would allow them to be put away like that. It was a very cold society for women."

Mr O'Gorman came under extreme pressure early on in his tenure as minister after it was revealed that the testimony of survivors would be sealed for 30 years, after which many of the survivors would not be alive.

After weeks of highly emotional political drama, the government clarified that they would ensure access to individual records was possible, but all cases will be assessed on their individual merits.

The minister says he regrets he did not engage with survivors right away.

Children's Minister  Roderic O'Gorman says he regrets he did not engage with survivors right away.

"My regret was that I didn't engage with survivors groups coming into the department immediately and reach out to them and get a sense of where things were on addressing the many legacy issues coming from the institutional abuse in the 20th century," he said.

"Since then I have engaged at a very significant level, given the needed perspective on the needs of survivors, and we're very conscious about the timing of the publication of the report, they said they didn't want it to come out so close to Christmas, which I took on board.

"I think the opportunity for next year and building as we go, the government has laid out their strategy on supports for survivors and institutional burials legislation and the commitment to create an archive of all the investigations of institutional abuse.

"The landscape has changed very dramatically, the commitment of government towards addressing these issues, issues that were left lie for far too long, has been made very clear."

The Minister said he is still looking closely at the issues surrounding Bessborough with his officials and cannot make any announcement on the issue until next year. 

A developer plans to build over 200 apartments on a parcel of land near the former mother and baby home which campaigners believe overlaps a childrens’ burial plot.