Mother and Baby Home Commission should come before Oireachtas, Taoiseach says

Mother and Baby Home Commission should come before Oireachtas, Taoiseach says

Sinn Féin TD and Oireachtas Children's Committee chair Kathleen Funchion has once again invited the members of the Commission of Investigation Into Mother and Baby Homes, to appear before the Committee. Picture: RollingNews.ie

The Taoiseach has said that the members of the Mother and Baby Home Commission should come before the Oireachtas Children's Committee.

Last Friday, the head of the commission justice Yvonne Murphy said they would not do so, in a move that has infuriated survivors and TDs.

Micheál Martin said the fact that one commission member, Professor Mary Daly, has spoken publicly about the report, but not to the Oireachtas is "problematic".

"It would be a useful exercise and it's a pity that it's not taking place," the Taoiseach said.

"Professor Daly did go before Oxford and that has opened the door to the idea that they're willing to talk about it in some form, but not in the Oireachtas, that's problematic."

Justice Murphy's letter to the chair of the Children's Committee Kathleen Funchion noted that: "The independence of the commission cannot simply be abandoned because its findings are not acceptable to some at a political level", something that the Taoiseach says can be worked out.

"Professor Murphy in her letter seems to be saying that they'd be going into an Oireachtas committee that has already made up its mind about the report," he said.

"Surely there's a way to work that out, in terms of the presentation from the commission to the Oireachtas and subsequent questioning, they should give it consideration, work out the modus operandi, that we'd have an objective, balanced approach between the Oireachtas committee, and the commission, and I would ask the commission members to give that reflection."

Mr Martin said that he felt there should be a precedent from now on that commissions should be required to come before the Oireachtas.

"There's been no precedent for commissions to come before the committee, but that's not good either.

"I think more generally, if we establish commissions, there should be some subsequent activity that once the commission's report is published for a presentation by the commission members, as to the general approach to the inquiry and how they arrived at our conclusions."

More in this section