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Oireacthas to discuss Mother and Baby Home record destruction

Oireacthas to discuss Mother and Baby Home record destruction

The Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman will meet the Oireachtas Children's Committee today to discuss the destruction of records and audio files by the Commission of Investigation.

Survivors have expressed anger at the latest development, with some saying they were not informed their testimony would be destroyed.

The state inquiry's chair, Judge Yvonne Murphy, was asked to appear at its hearing this afternoon, but refused.

Speaking to Beat News Carlow Kilkenny TD Kathleen Funchion will be at the Oireacthas Committee today.

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"There are a lot of questions that people want to ask in relation to the report, the content, the language and most alarmingly what has come out in the last few weeks that  various testimony's of women have been destroyed and there is a question mark over what exactly has been destroyed."

A senator says the Mother and Baby Homes Commission was acting outside the government's control when it destroyed interview tapes.

Fianna Fáil Senator Erin McGreehan says it's severely eroded trust with survivors of the institutions.

"It is really, really disappointing that we couldn't have saved those audio tapes, we couldn't have asked whether it was survivors or victims, or did they want the records kept and given back to them."

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"We can't fix that now. We are continuously up against happening outside the control of the government."

The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was established by Government in 2015 to provide a full account of what happened to women and children in Mother and Baby home institutions during the period 1922 to 1998.

The committee is due to meet this afternoon.

 

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