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cases where we know inappropriate burials took place inside institutions, many of which had shockingly high mortality rates. One such institution was Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork, which has been raised with me by people all over Ireland and raised by colleagues in this debate. While … Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes estimated that 923 babies died at Bessborough, just 64 burial locations could be identified. Burial records for 859 children and 19 women were missing. According to the commission, it is highly likely that some of those babies are buried

been served. How can justice be served when we do not know where over 800 children and 19 women are buried at Bessborough? How can justice be served when in Sean Ross Abbey an investigation revealed that at least 1,000 babies died there? This is something that … know the extent of. How can we claim to have confronted this history when so much remains unanswered? Ministers cannot simply say that Bessborough or Sean Ross Abbey does not meet the criteria and consider the matter closed. When the Institutional Burials Act was initially brought forward

wish to raise the issue of Bessborough. The Minister will be well aware that mediators between Cork City Council and landlords and landowners have been appointed. This was confirmed in the media on 8 September. After a month, will the Minister update us on the progress … been achieved? Has this progressed beyond initial meetings? Most importantly, has the Government earmarked funding for the purchase of the Bessborough site, and if mediation leads to an agreement, is the Minister ready to step in, provide the necessary funding and not let this drag on any longer

every single step of the way - and there are still fights for it - that is the same situation that is going on for Bessborough. I would like to encourage the people who are every single day campaigning to make sure that apartments are not build on Bessborough … still campaigning. I encourage those people to keep fighting. We are supporting them. We are really hoping that something can happen in Bessborough that prevents this building of apartments

remains of people buried at former institutions. That is a sensible and necessary change. However, I wish to raise the case of the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork, where the burial places of 859 children and 19 women remain unaccounted for, according to the commission … places remain unknown as a reason not to investigate? Meanwhile, planning permission has been upheld for 106 apartments on part of the former Bessborough grounds, despite the unresolved questions about where these children are buried. The then Minister for children who oversaw the commission of investigation, Katherine Zappone

needs to be done right across the State to ensure that survivors, their families and campaigners receive justice. I am thinking particularly of Bessborough in my own county and city. We still do not know where over 800 children and many mothers are buried. The decision … were shocked and angered in the past when legislation sealed the burial records of institutions such as the mother and baby home in Bessborough. The Minister has the opportunity in this legislation. This is appropriate legislation to amend to ensure that is reversed. I encourage the Minister

mother and baby homes. These are deeply important matters of dignity and justice for families seeking answers. It is important to mention the Bessborough mother and baby home and the denial of justice for the families of those buried there, who will not receive the same recognition