Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-07-09 ============================================================ Peter Burke (FG), Longford-Westmeath This is a time to listen. It is a time to listen to the victims, to understand their trauma, to give them the hand of friendship and to work with them on the future of this site. I do not want to say anything or talk about independent reports or authorities that would exacerbate their trauma. We have to work with victims and survivors. The Government will compassionately engage with survivors in the area. I have not spoken with the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste subsequent to the issuing of the decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála. That work will commence across government. The Government has been very much aware of this issue. It is aware of the processes that were going on. It is obviously very difficult to engage when independent institutions are making a determination as part of a legal process. We now have that opportunity. We will engage proactively with victims and survivors. I say that genuinely as someone who really understands the trauma that many families have experienced at the hands of the institutions of this State going back decades. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-09/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-09