Govt announces Commission of Investigation into mother-and-baby homes

RTE News
June 10, 2014

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0610/622730-cabinet-meet-babies/

Nine ledgers contain information about discharges and admissions to the Tuam home

Charlie Flanagan said it is important that a light be shone on these 'dark periods'

Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan has announced a statutory Commission of Investigation into mother-and-baby-homes across the State.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Flanagan said that it is too early to say who will lead the commission, but that he has some names in mind.

He said that the Government will receive an initial report from a cross-departmental investigation by 30 June.

Mr Flanagan said its work will inform the Government on the terms of reference and composition of the Commission of Investigation.

He said it is important that a light be shone on "these dark periods".

Mr Flanagan said he hopes the inquiry will examine all issues, including the high mortality rates, the burial practices following these deaths, the legal circumstances around adoptions and the question of conducting of clinical trials.

It is important to get political and national consensus on the terms of reference for the commission of investigation, he said.

There are complex legal issues and complex social issues involved, he said, adding that it was important first and foremost to establish the facts.

Mr Flanagan urged the Church authorities to hand over all documents and records to the inquiry.

He also indicated that the Protestant-run Bethany Home in Dublin could be included in the inquiry.

He did not put a time frame on the duration of the inquiry and said questions around compensation are also premature.

Tuam historian Catherine Corless has welcomed the announcement.

Mrs Corless, whose research into the deaths of children in the Tuam home brought the issue to the fore, described the development as "fantastic".

She said an investigation was not the initial intent of the campaign to commemorate the children but that it was a good development.

Mrs Corless said the Cabinet decision would have a particular relevance for many groups around the country who had been "knocking on brick walls" in an effort to find out more about mother-and-baby homes.

Fianna Fáil spokesperson on children Robert Troy said any investigation needs to be done in an extremely sensitive manner and should be above party politics.

Mr Troy said the women who stayed at the homes had nothing to be ashamed of.

He said they should be assured that if they come forward, they will have confidentiality, and nobody would be judging them.

He said Fianna Fáil party members had been meeting constituents, who were former residents of the homes, and that these people were terrified that a full independent inquiry could identify them.

The Philomena Project welcomed the Government's announcement of an inquiry into mother-and baby-homes.

The project has fully endorsed all calls for an independent statutory inquiry into the homes, particularly the issue of forced adoption.

Earlier, it emerged that extensive records from the Bon Secours mother-and-baby home in Tuam, Co Galway, make no reference to burial locations for children who died there.

The Child and Family agency, Tusla, has several original ledgers from the mother-and-baby home, containing a range of administrative data.

It is understood the material was initially passed to Galway County Council when the home closed in 1961 and would have been subsequently transferred to the Western Health Board and then the Health Service Executive, before coming into the care of Tusla at the beginning of the year.

There are a total of nine ledgers containing information about discharges and admissions to the home between 1921 and 1961.

These list the names of mothers, the dates on which they were admitted and discharged as well as the name and date of birth of their children.

The agency also has possession of quarterly returns from the home to Galway County Council between 1919 and 1961.

In these documents, the total number of mothers and children in the home are listed for each three-month period.

In the event of deaths having occurred in any quarter, these would be detailed. In many cases, the cause of death is recorded but information was not always consistently maintained in this regard. 

There are no burial records in the returns and no mention of burial locations in any of the other material in the care of Tusla.

Several maternity registers from Tuam dating from 1935 to 1961 are also being stored. These contain medical records of births.

It is understood that the death of a baby during childbirth or a stillbirth would have been registered here.

A fourth set of documentation has information relating to children who were "boarded out" from the home between August 1929 and November 1959.

This was the term used to describe the modern day practice of fostering. This data also details the situation regarding babies that were born in Tuam and placed for adoption.

All of the documents are being stored in a secure, fireproof room in one of the agency's Galway offices.

The material is held in trust by Tusla, which has a duty of care to look after the information and to ensure that only those who are entitled to look at it gain access.

The information contained in the books is strictly confidential and subject to usual data protection regulations. It can only be accessed by individuals whose details are contained in the files.

However, a spokesperson said it would be made available to any State inquiry and that there would be no legislative barrier to this.  It is likely that personal details would be redacted if this were to happen.