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labhairt anseo inniu. I appreciate the opportunity to speak today on developments at the site of the former mother and baby institution at Bessborough. The legacy of the mother and baby institutions is a deeply sad one that continues to be a source of profound hurt and pain … many people across this country. I am very conscious of the sensitivity of this issue, particularly for survivors and former residents of the Bessborough institution, as well as for their families. Indeed, there may well be members of the public in the Gallery today who were born

outset, I thank the Minister and Government for facilitating these statements today. They are absolutely necessary. As we all know, Bessborough represents a very long dark chapter in our past. It extended from 1922 to 1998. It was a very recent chapter. It is not that long … since Bessborough closed its doors. Some of the history of what went on in Bessborough is known and some is unknown but certainly there were horrors in relation to it. Some of that is documented but much of it is not. As we have outlined here today

going to talk about Bessborough, but I will also talk about the entire system of mother and baby homes, industrial schools and county homes. We have had many apologies in this House, and rightly so; they are welcome. Too often, however, the State has failed to truly … that separation would have been created. That was one of the most callous proposals and decisions adopted by any Government in recent years. Bessborough puts it into stark relief. We can all acknowledge maternal health in the forties and fifties in Ireland was not what it should have

Today's statements on Bessborough are welcome and very important but they will be meaningless unless the Government takes action on foot of the debate today. I urge the Minister to listen to the contributions from across the House, including by Members from her own party … Minister what I said to the survivors and their supporters at that gathering. Recently I attended a vigil organised at the Bessborough site in Cork. Afterwards I took time to look at the death records from the institution: 923 children died in the care of the nuns

welcome to the Public Gallery people who were incarcerated in Bessborough and other institutions. I particularly welcome Councillor Noelle Brown who was born in Bessborough and who has been an activist in this area for decades. Noelle has tirelessly highlighted the wrong done in this country … these children mattered not only to their families and mothers but also to this country. The news that planning permission was granted at Bessborough, the site of another mass grave, caused deep pain for survivors of that institution and sent shock waves to survivors of other institutions where

their contributions today. As the Minister, Deputy Foley, set out earlier, the investigation of burial arrangements in mother and baby institutions, including Bessborough, was an important part of the work of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, an independent, statutory body that was established … extensive investigations undertaken by the commission in an effort to locate the burials of the children who died while resident in Bessborough. The commission’s investigation into burial practices extended to many other institutions beyond Bessborough. This included the former institutions at Castlepollard and Sean Ross. These

Some 18,000 women and children went through or spent time in Bessborough. It closed in 1998. This is not just a historical wrongdoing; it is a modern one right up to today. There are people who still bear the scars and the trauma. To give a feel … young little baby, who was probably laughing and able to clap and what have you. He was the first child to die in Bessborough. Zoei Bonny died on 10 August 1994. She would have been 32 this year. She was only two days

reckon with our past and respond to those who continue to live with its consequences. The focus today is on the history of Bessborough and the wider legacy of mother and baby institutions in this country. Bessborough was one of a network of institutions that operated for decades … voices were not heard. Their rights were not respected. For far too long, their experiences were hidden from public view. Children born in Bessborough, like those born in similar institutions across the State, faced their own stark realities. Many were adopted, often without full or informed consent from

When we speak about Bessborough, we are not speaking about an abstract planning file or a routine decision before a local authority. We are speaking about a place that goes to the very core of who we are, or who we claim to be, as a republic. There … mother and baby homes is not distanced or detached. It is raw and painful, and remains unresolved for far too many families. Bessborough, in particular, stands as one of the starkest symbols of that legacy. Nearly 19,000 women and children passed through its doors. That

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cheann Comhairle. In 1940 Ireland's infant mortality rate was 6.5%. In the Bessborough mother and baby home, it was 61%. In 1943 a Department inspector, Alice Litster, said: "The greater number[s] ... were miserable scraps of humanity, wizened, some emaciated and almost … children continued to be incarcerated and abused there. Between 1922 when it opened and 1998 when it finally closed 923 children died in Bessborough but burial records exist for just 64. It seems no one even cared enough to record where they were buried. The nuns

decision to grant planning permission for a residential development on the site of the former Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork is deeply wrong. It is deeply troubling and profoundly disrespectful to the women and children who lived there, who suffered there and who died there. Bessborough … place where women were confined, where children died and where families are still searching for the truth. We cannot discuss planning at Bessborough as if it is comparable to any other planning application in the State, as if it is simply another zoned map. This is about history

express my solidarity with the survivors of the Bessborough mother and baby home and of all mother and baby homes as we broach this issue. We are talking about a matter of great sensitivity relating to the disappearance of hundreds of women and babies. This is a matter … repeated. It requires truth-seeking and truth-telling, reflection and memorialisation. We know that of the 923 babies who died at Bessborough, 859 are entirely unaccounted for. The location of the remains of 19 mothers is also unknown. The commission of investigation reports it is highly likely burials

tribute to Carmel Cantwell, Noelle Brown who I see in the Gallery, and other survivors and those affected by the crimes committed at Bessborough Mother and Baby Institution. I called it a "home" at the protest last week and I was rightly rounded upon and told it should … about what would happen to women in a partitioned Ireland where reactionary forces gained dominance in the State. It is appropriate then that Bessborough was set up in 1922 - the year of partition - as part of a policy by the new State of outsourcing the care of women

into mother and baby homes and it, as she knows, carried out a cartographic and landscape assessment of possible unrecorded burial arrangements in Bessborough. It also carried out a site survey and consulted with people on responses to its appeal seeking information about burials there. It concluded that … likely that some of the children who died at Bessborough were buried in the grounds, but it was unable to find any physical or documentary evidence of this. As no evidence of locations was found, the commission did not consider it feasible to excavate the full available site

time Bessborough mother and baby home was not just a place where children were born; it was where they died. In 1943, three out of every four babies there died. One of the leading causes of death was starvation. The mother and baby homes commission report stated that … children died in Bessborough but burial records only exist for 64. The commission concluded it was highly likely some of those children were buried on the grounds. The State either does not care or does not want to know because there has never been a proper, forensic examination

members' business shall be the Motion re An Garda Síochána, selected by the Labour Party. Thursday's business shall be: - Statements on the Bessborough Development (not to exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes) Thursday evening business shall be the Second Stage of the Organisation of Working Time (Leave … Dáil on its rising today shall adjourn until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 14th April, 2026; and 2. the Statements on the Bessborough Development shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply: (a) the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall

ensure the protection of unrecorded burial sites. That is an issue that must be dealt with by the local authority in whose area Bessborough is placed. The action plan also contains commitments in relation to dignified, local memorialisation of known or agreed burial sites. There is no point … being able to identify burial grounds within them. Otherwise, we are just prolonging the suffering and pain of individuals who were in Bessborough

thank the Minister for that. I also welcome to the Chamber any persons in the Public Gallery who are associated with the Bessborough development

this was ruled by An Bord Pleanála as being unsuitable. The fact of the matter is that the Bessborough site requires a national intervention to prevent development. The State has obligations under the ECHR to investigate this and it should be responsible for surveying and protecting the site

commemorations and speak of being part of a republican ilk, we know each one of those lines. The failures that befell babies in Bessborough were similar to those of the women and children who were incarcerated, were forced to engage in vaccine trials and forced adoptions, and were

Human Rights to find any bodies that exist and bring them back in a suitable manner for the families of those affected. Bessborough was a site of systemic oppression, and the Government has made sure that that has not actually happened. In the letter the Clann Project pointed

This evening at 5.30 p.m, my colleague, Senator Harmon, will lead a protest against the unconscionable planning decision we have seen at Bessborough. This site should become a site of national conscience. We cannot concrete over a site where 923 children died while the Government sits idly

feelings and sensitivities of people like those who suffered and were traumatised and of infants who lost their lives in places like Bessborough. There is urgent need to take on board the reason people are protesting this evening. I will be joining that protest. We need to listen

their comments. As they know, the Business Committee will meet at 11 a.m. tomorrow. We will certainly try to facilitate the statements on Bessborough, although it will not be this week as the Minister is away. We will certainly try to facilitate them next week. In relation

this society. Outside Leinster House today we will see a protest against proposed development of the mother and baby home site in Bessborough. There are no burial records for 859 children. There are records for their baptism but not for their burial. These mothers and their babies were

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will report on his meetings with survivor groups since his intervention at the 2025 Bessborough Commemoration; her plans to meet with other survivor groups; and if she has made representations to Cork City Council in respect of the Bessborough site

Shea asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been brought to the proposed commercial development at the former Bessborough mother and baby home site in Cork; if she has engaged with the owners or Cork City Council regarding the future of the site

Shea asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if consideration has been given to the preservation, memorialisation, or public commemoration of the Bessborough site, in consultation with survivors and advocacy groups; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20866/26