The bodies of 474 children were used for medical experiments, an initial probe into the mother and baby homes has revealed.

The inter-departmental inquiry attempted to lift the lid on the depth of the problem ahead of the Commission on Investigation, which will be launched later this year.

It said that inquiry should focus on nine ‘core homes’ including Tuam where the mass grave was discovered and the Bethany Homes.

The report also detailed how:

- There were 23,707 babies born across the nine homes;

- There were 976 Illegitimate Infant Deaths in Institutions including the 796 in Tuam;

- 2,000 children from homes were put up for adoption in the United States;

But the inquiry admitted there is considerable difficulty in establishing if the women were forced to do this.

The chief medical officer was unable to find documents to confirm if consent was given for medical trials.

New Children’s Minister James Reilly announced the chair of the new Commission of Investigation and said the terms of reference would be drawn up by September.

He denied claims that there would be no budget to help the Inquiry, which will be headed by Yvonne Murphy.

Mr Reilly said: “This work is very very important work and it needs to be funded and when Judge Murphy is in the chair she will revert to us with what is required in terms of support.

“No I am not [worried]. The Government is committed to this and the funds will be made available.”

Minister Reilly said the coalition were determined to get to the bottom of this saga and said the Government did not want to go on for year.

He said: “There are a number of areas that have to be considered and the Government will make its determination.

“If we make our terms of reference too broad we will end up with something that may last for many years and that is not what people want.

“If we make them too narrow we won’t get the understanding we need at the moment.

“Everything is on the table at the moment; the Government will make a decision in the autumn in relation to this; the department is working assiduously on the matters at hand.”

The Minister said it was too early to speak about redress for the women involved and said that issue would be explored in due course.

He said: “That would be to pre-judge the commission, we will certainly consider the whole issue when we have the facts in front of us.

“The point about the age of the women is a very valid one, that is why we want the commission to work as timely as possible.”