I welcome the statement by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Charles Flanagan, that the Government will establish a statutory commission of inquiry into the operation of mother and baby homes. Such an inquiry will have to deal clearly with how women were treated and mistreated in such homes, the high infant mortality rates in such homes, the burial practices, the carrying out of vaccine trials, all of the circumstances surrounding adoption practices, for example, illegal and forced adoptions, and much more. Above all, I suggest such an inquiry will have to deal with the societal backdrop and society's attitude at the time to women who became pregnant outside marriage. Shame, guilt, stigmatisation, hardship and a culture of concealment were all part of society's response to such women. They endured all of this because they were deemed to have broken society's rules. Much of this is incomprehensible to present day generations, but it was nonetheless the reality. Children born in such homes were treated as lesser beings with fewer rights. Many were barbarically taken from their mothers without real respect for their mothers or their own inalienable rights as children. The importance of this issue for present day society and future generations concerns the need to learn lessons and, I hope, influence society for the better in how it deals with the many social issues that come its way.

A question, please.

This will be complex and sensitive work in which we will engage constructively. Given the sensitivities involved for families, adoptees and adoptive parents, is the Government open to consultations with Opposition parties in drawing up the terms of reference and considering the structure and nature of the inquiry in the light of the scale and scope of what will, undoubtedly, have to be covered?

Will the Government agree or has it agreed to establish a dedicated counselling service for all those who have been affected by experiences in mother and baby homes? A dedicated counselling service should be established. It would take time to do this, but such a service should be established to be of assistance. A confidential telephone line should be established by the Government immediately, manned by appropriate personnel to deal with the queries that will undoubtedly arise from the highlighting of the issue in recent times.

I thank the Deputy for his constructive comments. Everybody is aware that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has today announced that the Government will set up a commission of inquiry into mother and baby homes as run in Ireland in the past decades. We do so with a sense of sadness but, equally, with a sense of duty and resolve. The interdepartmental group has commenced its work which it will continue on all of the issues being mentioned to be reported on to the Government shortly. This is about examining a period in which women, particularly young women, were silent and silenced. It was an extraordinary time when the women of Ireland, mna na hÉireann, poor women especially, were callously held to account. It is not an exaggeration to say that in many cases their treatment and that of their babies was an abomination. In that regard, the inquiry will consider a time when there was a disturbing symbiosis between the Church and the State when a sin became, if not a civil wrong, certainly a societal offence. These were not the good old days about which we were told. They were not times of happiness or comfort for a great number of people. The walls of respectability that surrounded many God-fearing sectors of society have now been dismantled and the consequent freedom and shame are ours to act on and we will do so.

I thank the Deputy for his comments which were made in a constructive fashion. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is open to full consultations with members of the Opposition. This is an issue for Ireland because if it is not handled properly, in many ways, Ireland's soul will lie, like the babies of so many mothers, in an unmarked grave. It is important that we try to get this right.

I take the Deputy's points on counselling and the structure, scale and scope of the inquiry. These are matters the Minister will certainly take into account. It is for the mothers involved and their babies and the sake of the lost and stolen generations within families that we deal with the issue. I hope we will hold the inquiry in as compassionate, humane and understanding a way as possible. The Minister will see to it that Opposition parties and Independent Members are consulted fully in terms of discussions on the structure of the inquiry, the terms of reference and how the issue should be handled.

This issue has affected the lives of so many in the country and abroad as a consequence of what happened. While in some cases we seem to consider that this just happened in the past few years, it is a reflection of a period since the foundation of the State in terms of what happened to women and mothers in Irish society. Where they were poor and uneducated, it made matters even worse. It is not about comely maidens dancing at the crossroads. This is an issue for the Ireland of today to deal with as another element of our not so glorious past.

I welcome the Taoiseach's comments on engaging with the Opposition, but I ask that the various representative groups and parties involved be consulted also. I presume the Minister will do this on both the structure of such an inquiry and also its terms of reference.

With regard to a dedicated counselling service, by way of information, when we established the commission of inquiry into the abuse which had taken place in institutions, it took two years to establish a dedicated counselling service with properly qualified personnel who were particularly adept and expert in that area. I suspect something similar will occur in this instance. I appeal to the Taoiseach to do everything he can to set up a dedicated counselling service as speedily as possible because many people may have buried much of what happened or may not have been dealing with it until recently because of the debate. Undoubtedly, it will create issues for people and families and as the inquiry begins, there will be a need for an ongoing and specific counselling service to be established. What is required is something that will be separate from normal counselling services that may be available to people on an ongoing basis in the realm of adoption. A separate and specific service needs to be established for those who have experience of these homes.

I also believe we owe a great debt to social historians and, more recently, Catherine Corless who made the discovery in Tuam but who did so in a measured and balanced way, as we can gather from reading some of the material that was carried in the media over the weekend. She came up with information on 800 babies who had died in the home in Tuam alone and had been buried there between 1925 and 1961. We are looking at a period that dates back to the early part of the last century, up to the late 1970s, if not later, an enormous expanse of time. The inquiry will have to have a number of strands to it. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment to establish a counselling service and a confidential telephone helpline which should be established without undue delay?

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will take note of all the comments and suggestions coming to him, including from the Deputy in respect of counselling services and a confidential telephone line. Obviously, the terms of reference for the investigation will need to be considered very carefully. I understand most of the information is available, but it needs to be collated and gone through. I honestly believe this is a much broader question about the kind of society in which our people lived from the foundation of the State until the early 1960s. I know from the part of the country I come from that there are implications in terms of what happened to children who were fostered, the vaccination issue, those who were forcibly signed into mental institutions by families, the banishing of young women from various locations around the country to have their babies in Liverpool or wherever else, if not in mother and baby homes, the mortality rates which were so high and the old buildings, the walls of which were infested with TB and whatever else. These are all issues that need to be considered in the context of the kind of society we had at the time. Essentially, this is about the kind of country Ireland was in which women, in particular, were the focus of shame and suppression. I think today of the late Nuala Fennell who served in this House and was the principal driver of the banishment of illegitimacy when babies born out of wedlock were deemed to be an inferior sub-species. That is one of the issues that will be dealt with. In so far as the Government and the House are concerned, this is about the country and its people. It is not about apportioning blame at any one location.

We can apologise to everybody, but where does it end? This was Ireland of the 1920s to the 1960s, an Ireland that might have been portrayed as having a glorious and brilliant past but which within its shadows contained all of these cases, and in which people felt ashamed and different and were suppressed and dominated. Obviously, the question of their treatment in the mother and baby homes is a central part of that, as were the issues identified in the Ryan report with regard to mother and baby homes, the fostering out of babies by institutions, and so on. It is another issue that we must deal with in 2014 to the best of our ability. In an attempt to get this as right as possible we will, through the programme being put together by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, meet with everybody, including the historians and groups mentioned by Deputy Martin.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an gcinneadh atá déanta ag an Rialtas coimisiún fiosrúcháin a bhunú. Is cúis áiféala é gur tharla na rudaí seo sa chéad áit, ach is maith an rud é go bhfuil an cinneadh seo tógtha.

I, too, welcome that the Government is to establish a commission of inquiry into mother and baby homes across this State. In the past week or so there have been horrific revelations in this regard, including that up to 800 children may have been buried in an unmarked communal plot at the site of a former mother and baby home in Tuam. It is alleged that a regime of neglect and malnutrition caused the deaths of these most vulnerable of our citizens. As we know, this was not an isolated case. Dozens of these homes were operated across Ireland from the late 1800s up to partition and then in this State up until the 1970s. It is clear that the women and babies had no rights. It is also clear from the harrowing accounts of survivors who in recent days found the strength to speak out that their lives were destroyed. It is well past time that the institutions and agencies of this State faced up to this shameful period. I commend the survivors and other activists, particularly the historians, who have kept faith on this issue.

I would like, if I may, to tease out the terms of reference of the proposed inquiry. As stated by the Taoiseach, it must be comprehensive. There are a number of key issues on which it must focus, including that of the imprisonment of pregnant women in mother and baby homes, the taking of babies from their mothers against their will, the cause of the shocking infant mortality rates at mother and baby homes, the circumstances surrounding the burial of children and babies who died at these homes, the routine illegal adoption and trafficking to the USA of an unknown number of children, and the subjection of children, without the consent of their mothers, to medical trials. There are other institutions that need to be included in this inquiry, including the Westbank Home in Greystones, County Wicklow, and similar institutions. Can the Taoiseach confirm that all these issues will be covered by the Government's commission of inquiry and, also, whether the commission will have full powers of compellability in relation to those whom it wishes to interview and full access to all records and documents, whether held by public authorities or private institutions?

Aontaím leis an Teachta Adams gurb é seo an rud is fearr le déanamh.

I welcome the Deputy's constructive suggestions. Many people come here from America to trace their roots, having been adopted by Americans. The vast majority of those adopted by people in the United States were perfectly healthy babies. What we need to know is what happened to those who were not so healthy and had problems, intellectual and physical, or other difficulties. The Church can play a role here in terms of identification of burial grounds, whether consecrated or to be consecrated, and the proper marking of same, and in relation to the privacy issues surrounding adopted children and so on. I understand that several thousand children were adopted by people in the United States. The commission will also examine the issue of imprisonment of women, as mentioned by Deputy Adams. On the question regarding the structure and nature of the investigation, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will discuss that issue at 4 p.m. with members of the Opposition and Independent Deputies.

It is a case of trying to define a set of terms of reference that are based on the key facts that need to be determined. Everybody has his or her own view on how we deal with that. Information is now beginning to flood in from many quarters. Rather than have a rushed reaction in terms of the quick establishment of an inquiry that might not be as comprehensive, suitable or appropriate as needs be, it is important that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, on behalf of Government, takes a little time to get this right, although not too long, as this issue has drifted for many decades now. It is one that filters out into a wider societal background of the type referred to by Deputy Martin and also referred to by me. From that point of view, the Deputy can take it that the inquiry will be as comprehensive, thorough and appropriate as possible.

In my view, what we do not want is a litigious response that results in an expensive assessment of facts and files already available in the public domain. There is a whole series of issues involved that need to be dealt with. I would assume that the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, will engage constructively with everybody who wishes to contribute, including historians, local groups, members of the public and public representatives, and will try to ascertain the totality of the range of facts that need to be determined and on that basis define the structure and terms of reference for the commission. Members of the House will be directly involved in that.

Go raibh maith agat. In trying to come to terms with this, one of the questions I asked of myself was how did this State allow the establishment of these institutions for women who had babies out of wedlock. In trying to tease through the sad history of all of this, the more profound question is what are we going to do about it. The Government, by announcing the establishment of a commission of inquiry, has made a good start. The Taoiseach's commitment to work with parties in Opposition and others is also to be welcomed.

Sinn Féin has been consistently raising the issue of Bethany Home with the Government. The Government still has not fulfilled its responsibilities to the victims of the Bethany Home, which I have never understood, given the small number of people involved. What we now have on the back of that is greater revelations involving even more citizens. While I welcome the Taoiseach's commitment and that of the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, Sinn Féin's responsibility is to hold the Government to account in all of these matters. Counselling is crucial. In many cases, it is an add-on. It is crucial for all of the survivors and others traumatised by these revelations.

Why is An Garda Síochána not investigating this? That strikes me as a pertinent point.

Thank you.

Why is the site in Tuam not sealed off so that experts can be brought in to examine it?

Will the Government support Sinn Féin's Private Members' motion on this latest shameful episode of our history? I am pleased that our motion has been overtaken by the Government's announcement, but I would like the Government to make clear its position on the motion.

The Government wants to make it clear that it has decided to hold an inquiry by way of a commission of investigation into these matters. As I stated, the range of issues and facts that need to be determined is very extensive. Encompassed is a very broad range of societal issues. Therefore, it is only right and proper that we attempt to deal with this as thoroughly, fully and appropriately as possible.

Deputy Adams has mentioned Bethany Home in the House on quite a number of occasions. Archbishop Jackson has written to me today about this matter. The question being examined was whether Bethany Home should be considered as part of the investigation and analysis of the Magdalen laundries. Bethany Home was clearly not a laundry. It is now one of a significant number of mother and baby homes that must be investigated.

I have heard varying estimates as to the number of graveyards and cemeteries around the country. In every county, there are unmarked graves where children were buried. Some were from the Famine times and some may include children who came from mother and baby homes. The analysis of the records, burial procedures and burial grounds, whether consecrated or not, must be focused on also. In my part of the country, up until just a few years ago, unconsecrated ground was where children born out of wedlock were buried. They were treated as a different species entirely. It was not until the 1980s that the concept of illegitimacy was abolished.

These are valuable contributions that Members make. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will lead on this matter on behalf of the Government and, as I stated, will consult broadly the public, all the relevant groups and, of course, elected Members in order to get this as right as possible.

It is very hard to put a fix on the conclusion of the process. The big message is that the Government is obviously concerned with the implications and has decided to have a formal inquiry or commission of investigation. My hope is that Members of the House, the various parties and Independent groups can all work together to try to deal with this matter, which is another episode from our not-so-glorious past.