Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries
Dail Éireann — 2021-07-06
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Roderic O'Gorman (GP), Dublin West

I agree with the Deputy in terms of the bravery of the 500 individuals who appeared before the confidential committee to give their personal accounts of their experiences in these institutions. I have always said that that chapter and the extracts from their stories have had a huge impact on me, but I am aware that they are just extracts. I know from my engagement with survivors that they wanted their entire stories, not part of them, reflected on the historical record. Survivors can obtain their testimonies from the archive through a subject access request but they just become their personal documents. It is that element that I am seeking to address. I want to ensure that for those who so choose, their full testimonies can form part of the historical record of what happened in these institutions. I do not have the full answer just yet on how to do that. I spoke with Deputy Cairns and colleagues on the joint Oireachtas committee about the issue. I have some more work to do, but that is what I am seeking to achieve.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-07-06/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-07-06