Minister Foley secures Government approval to make a High Court application for technical, factual documents relating to the former Mother and Baby Institution at Bessborough.
- From: Department of Children, Disability and Equality
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The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, has secured Government approval to make a High Court application to search for and publish technical, factual documents relating to burials at the site of the former Mother and Baby Institution at Bessborough.
The archive of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes is subject to a general principle of confidentiality under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004.
No evidence or document given to the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes can be published by the minister or any other party, unless otherwise directed by a court.
Speaking after Cabinet, Minister Foley said:
“Mindful of the importance and sensitivity of the issue of the former Mother and Baby Institution at Bessborough to so many families, and to help support transparency, I obtained cabinet approval to make a High Court application seeking a direction to search for and publish technical, factual documents relating to burials at the site of the former Mother and Baby Institution at Bessborough.”
The technical, factual documents, which will be the subject of the High Court application, were used by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and details of their findings were included in its final published report. The documents include high resolution Air Corps photographs of Bessborough from 1951; site survey documentation; and the Commission’s cartographic and landscape assessments of possible unrecorded burial sites, carried out by forensic archaeologists.
Witness evidence falls outside the scope of materials which are proposed to be searched for under this proposal, as evidence was given in private session by witnesses at the Commission on their understanding that their confidentiality and privacy would be respected and upheld at all times.