Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries

2 contributions · 2 speakers · 265 words

Q109 PBP Bríd Smith to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

109. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to the widespread anger at his recent decision not to engage an international legal expert to review testimonies given to the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50631/22]

Summary of this debate

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Will he make a comment on the fact that this report will remain the official report of the State, despite its outrageous conclusion and misleading slant on the testimonies given? I always recognise the importance of the testimonies of those who appear before the confidential committee. That is why I went to some length to secure the audio recordings of those who did so when those testimonies were believed to be lost or deleted.

I know many of the witnesses describe their personal experiences to the confidential committee and they did so feeling that their words would form part of the historical record. Their testimonies were abbreviated, truncated and, sometimes, combined.

Built by scoring every sentence in the debate on how distinctive its language is, then quoting the highest-scoring ones back word for word and in the order spoken. Nothing is paraphrased or invented — if a sentence appears here, it was said in the chamber. Drawn from 265 words across 2 contributions by 2 speakers.

Most used terms in this debate

How often each word appears across the whole debate, ranked by how distinctive it is to it rather than common to all parliamentary language.

testimonies 4

confidential 4

recordings 2

slant 1

anger 2

survivors 2

abbreviated 1

historical 2

committee 4

widespread 2

appear 2

did 4

The full debate

All 2 contributions, start to finish, in the order they were made.

PBP Bríd Smith

I have just 30 seconds to ask the Minister an important question. His decision not to engage an international expert to review the report on mother and baby homes has been met with widespread anger across that community. Will he make a comment on the fact that this report will remain the official report of the State, despite its outrageous conclusion and misleading slant on the testimonies given? I am sure the Minister will probably have to give me a written answer but the issue is very important and it is creating widespread anger in that community.

GP Roderic O'Gorman

I always recognise the importance of the testimonies of those who appear before the confidential committee. That is why I went to some length to secure the audio recordings of those who did so when those testimonies were believed to be lost or deleted. I know many of the witnesses describe their personal experiences to the confidential committee and they did so feeling that their words would form part of the historical record. That did not happen. Their testimonies were abbreviated, truncated and, sometimes, combined. I will seek to address that in the initiative I am bringing forward either to allow the recordings from the confidential committee or to allow survivors to come forward to give a new account and testimony of their time in these institutions but also to allow survivors who did not appear before the confidential committee ensure that their words form part of the historical record and a key element of the records of the memorial centre that the Government will also bring forward.