Amendments Nos. 20 and 21 were put forward on Committee Stage and I cannot accept them for the reasons I outlined at that stage. The Government has to balance the need to intervene with the need to respect the long-standing tradition of the sanctity of burials. It is important to recognise that the excavation and recovery of human remains is an extensive, complex and sensitive intervention. Safeguarding the public interest is an important concept. It is used in other domestic and European legislation. It is necessa…

I move amendment No. 23: In page 17, line 19, to delete "initial person" and substitute "initial period".

Not at all. We had a discussion about this. I made the argument on Committee Stage that the issues that the Deputy is seeking to include explicitly were already included. However, we went back to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. We have tabled an amendment that is quite similar to the amendments Deputies Funchion and Ward tabled. Amendment No. 31 expands the list of information sources to explicitly refer to religious organisations and communities, including, but not limited to, a diocese or parish of the R…

I move amendment No. 31: In page 30, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “(g) a religious organisation or community including but not limited to a diocese or parish of the Roman Catholic Church and a diocese or parish of the Church of Ireland,”.

I discussed this issue with Deputy Ward on Committee Stage. Section 29, which is proposed to be amended here, relates solely to the database and the related records that were compiled by the mother and baby homes commission of investigation. We passed legislation on that in October 2022. That legislation provided a copy of that database to Tusla, but the AAI does not have a copy of that-----

We specifically mentioned Tusla. The amendment, therefore, is of no purpose.

I move amendment No. 33: In page 32, line 11, after “not,” to insert “at any time,”."

I move amendment No. 34: In page 32, line 15, to delete “and”."

I move amendment No. 35: In page 32, line 16, after “not,” to insert “at any time,”."

I move amendment No. 36: In page 32, lines 18 and 19, to delete all words from and including “obtained” in line 18 down to and including line 19 and substitute the following: “obtained by the person while performing his or her functions as a member of staff of FSI under this Act,”."

I move amendment No. 37: In page 32, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(c) a person who is or was a member of the Oversight Committee shall not, at any time, unless he or she is required or permitted by law or duly authorised in writing to do so by the Oversight Committee, disclose confidential information obtained by the person while performing his or her functions as a member of that Committee under this Act, and (d) a person who provides or provided services, or is or was engaged as a consultant…

I move amendment No. 38: In page 32, line 28, to delete “ paragraph (b) ” and substitute “ paragraph (b) or (c) ”."

I move amendment No. 39: In page 33, line 18, after “Government” to insert “, the Oversight Committee”.

We discussed these amendments on Committee Stage. Again, I am not in a position to accept them. With regard to amendment No. 40, following pre-legislative scrutiny, I significantly revised the part of the legislation that deals with excavations, which included the addition of provisions that specify that appropriately qualified persons will undertake excavation and post-recovery analysis in line with international standards and in accordance with professional rules and guidelines. It is clear that the work needs in…

I move amendment No. 42: In page 34, line 36, to delete “human remains, and” and substitute “human remains,”.

I move amendment No. 43: In page 34, line 37, to delete “ paragraph (b) .” and substitute “ paragraph (b) , and”.

I move amendment No. 44: In page 34, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following: “(iv) whether a notification was made under subsection (2) of section 36 to a member of An Garda Síochána and the coroner referred to in that subsection and, if so, whether the evidence related to subsection (1)(a) or (b) of that section.”.

I move amendment No. 46: In page 35, line 9, to delete "ordinarily".

I move amendment No. 47: In page 39, line 22, to delete "niece or nephew" and substitute "niece or nephew (whether of the whole blood or the half-blood), grandniece or grandnephew".

I move amendment No. 49: In page 46, lines 34 and 35, to delete "relevant information" and substitute "relevant information and documents". Amendment No. 52, which was also put forward by Deputies Funchion and Ward on Committee Stage, seeks to expand the definition of "relevant information" to be used by a director in establishing a familial link in an identification programme. I explained in committee that the intention had always been to facilitate the use of different types of documentation. In this regard, the …