Legislation proposes giving TDs power to question members of commissions of investigation

There was fury in 2021 when head of the Mother and Baby Home Commission, Yvonne Murphy, snubbed an invitation to appear before the Oireachtas Children's Committee. File photo: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie 

Politicians will have the power to haul members of commissions of investigation in for questioning under proposed legislation being debated this week.

There was fury in 2021 when head of the Mother and Baby Home Commission, Yvonne Murphy, snubbed an invitation to appear before the Oireachtas Children's Committee. At the time, Leo Varadkar said the decision of the former commission members not to attend the committee was "deeply regrettable" and called on them to reconsider.

Under new legislation, former members of commissions of investigation will be compelled to appear before a relevant Joint Oireachtas Committee in new legislation to be debated this Thursday.

Sinn Féin's Kathleen Funchion said she was "compelled to act" after the publication of the final report of the Mother and Baby Home Commission which "angered survivors and the public who rightly perceived a complete lack of accountability".

“This lack of accountability further intensified when a fuller picture emerged of the commission members' account of Ireland’s notorious mother and baby institutions, which was in stark contrast to the reality many suffered in these institutions and continue to suffer to this day. We cannot in good conscience allow this level of unaccountability to be ever repeated again, nor can we stand over it."

Ms Funchion said the main objective of the bill is to ensure all future commission members cannot simply discharge their duties upon submission of their final report without a certain level of Oireachtas scrutiny.

I am acutely aware that commissions of investigation must remain independent and within the confines of what is legally permitted, but there must be a level of scrutiny that is lacking presently.

“This bill will strike the right balance, it sets out matters that are or may be the subject of court proceedings, matters relating to any facts established by the commission, certain matters relating to persons who are not identified in or identifiable from the final report and matters relating to evidence that is confidential."

She added: “This bill will mandate for the appropriate examination by elected representatives to scrutinise the terms of reference and methodology, and to ask probing questions of commission members. I firmly believe we will continue to attract our most esteemed judges and academics to these roles, many I know felt uncomfortable with how the Mother and Baby Homes commission of investigations was handled."

Ms Funchion has asked all TDs to support the bill to ensure "a level of fairness and accountability" for all future commissions of investigation.