Sinn Féin spokesperson on Children Kathleen Funchion TD has said that there should be no undue delay in publishing the final report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, which the Minister for Children will receive today.

Teachta Funchion said:

“I am extremely concerned that survivors of Mother and Baby Homes will have to wait an undue period of time to view the final report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.

“In recent correspondence to my colleague Martin Browne TD, we were told by the Minister that when he receives the report there will be a delay before it is published.

“The Minister said that : ‘…there are a number of procedural matters which must be addressed before I can seek the approval of Government to publish it. This will necessitate engagement with the Attorney General as the Government’s legal advisor. Consequently, there will always be a time interval between receipt of such reports and the separate arrangements for their publication.’

“This process must be expedited.

“Having to wait so long for this report to be compiled and published only adds to the pain of survivors.

“Survivors must be central to this process and the Government must ensure they can have confidence in this report.

“They have been waiting decades for a full account of what went on at these institutions to be made public and for the abuse they suffered to be formally acknowledged. Any undue delay is unacceptable.”