The abuse and trauma suffered by women and children at Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork city is not a matter of history. That suffering is hardwired into the present day lives of survivors and their families. It also echoes in the memory of those who never made it beyond the high walls and wrought iron gates.

The decision to grant planning permission to a private developer to build apartments on the site of the home was appalling, utterly disgraceful. Understandably, it was met with real anger, disgust and hurt by survivors, their families and the public at large, not least because 829 children who died in Bessborough are unaccounted for to this day. We still do not know where they are buried or what happened to them and there has been no proper investigation of the land. It goes against basic decency and compassion to pave over the Bessborough site for any reason, especially while those questions remain unanswered.

Campaign groups have made it clear that they will fight against this decision tooth and nail. It was no surprise that appeals were lodged by survivors to stop the development going ahead. In that time, they have repeatedly called on the Government to buy the Bessborough site to ensure a proper excavation and investigation of the land takes place and, crucially, to preserve Bessborough as a site of national conscience.

Last week, the Taoiseach told the Dáil the Government would await An Coimisiún Pleanála's decision on the appeals. That day has arrived. Today, having already wrongly refused demands for an oral hearing, An Coimisiún Pleanála has now decided to allow the development to proceed, almost in its entirety. As we stand here, Bessborough is to be turned into a construction site, paved over for this development. It is a shameful decision and the Government should simply never have allowed it to get to this point. This is a site whose soil holds many secrets and much trauma and which is potentially the final resting place of hundreds of children. An Coimisiún Pleanála has now made its decision so the question is: what will the Government do? Will it stand back and allow the site, which possibly holds the remains of these children, to be destroyed? Will it try to remove survivors when they chain themselves to the gates in protest, as they have said they will, or will it finally listen to them and hear their calls for respect, justice and truth? Will it buy the Bessborough site and stop this outrage from happening?

The children and women of Bessborough deserved more in life and they were failed, abused in the most horrific fashion. The least the Government should do now is protect what is possibly the final resting place of so many; protect the site so survivors can get the answers, truth and justice they desperately need and deserve; and give these children and women the dignity in death that was stolen from them in life. Those who suffered so much at Bessborough mattered. The women mattered, the children mattered, those who died mattered and the survivors continue to matter.

Will the Minister show survivors and their families that they matter to his Government? Will he give them a clear commitment today that the Government will buy the site, facilitate proper investigation of the land and preserve Bessborough as a site of national conscience?

I thank Deputy Ó Broin for raising this important matter. I cannot imagine the trauma many families are going through right now as a result of the conclusion of An Coimisiún Pleanála on this file. This was a dark time in our past. Many families were affected by institutions in our State at a time when the State turned a blind eye to vulnerable families - those who needed support at key junctures and crisis points in their lives.

The Government can now engage with survivors and people in the vicinity directly affected by this decision. There is a huge body of work in doing that and we have to do it respectfully and with dignity. In terms of the planning authority and the coimisiún, we know these are independent processes and they have to run their course. The coimisiún came forward with its determination, which was announced this morning.

This is a 60-acre site on a wider 200-acre site where the estate was originally. The Deputy raised a number of items and, as a Government Minister, I cannot respond with precision about what the State will do about a CPO, which the Deputy has proposed, and collectively in terms of a monument for the future. What I would say is it should be victim-centred. Those who have been affected by this trauma and the families who carry this grief to this day need to be front and centre in the determination of the future of that site. I believe that, having spoken to many families about their experiences of this difficult trauma in many different parts of the country. It was horrific and they live consistently with the scars of it.

The Government has done a number of things to try to respond to the challenge of the past - the neglect by the State in the past. We set out in our action plan for survivors and former residents of mother and baby home institutions a number of actions. In November 2022, the then Minister for housing wrote to local authorities, including Cork City Council, requesting adequate consideration be brought to bear in development plan processes and consideration be given to very sensitive sites such as this one. That is key here. At a time when people are vulnerable, people are being reminded of, and consistently endure, the scars of the past. That needs to be brought to bear and brought to the forefront. The Government needs to give them a compassionate hand and work with them to try to get agreement about the future of the site. Notwithstanding that, two independent processes have taken place but I hope the Government will now engage proactively with the victims.

As a father of two young children and as a husband, my heart is absolutely with victims and survivors who had backs turned on them at a hard and dark time in our State. Now we are in a different place.

We are a more compassionate Government. We are an understanding Government. We are a Government that wants to hold out the hand of friendship to try to rectify the scars of the past.

I welcome the Minister's acceptance that the survivors and their families need compassion. However, what they need more urgently is a decision from Government. They have waited long enough and have fought far too hard to get where they are. Their ask is very clear. There is no ambiguity as to what they want. They do not want this building to go ahead. They want the State to acquire the site. They want a proper investigation and excavation of the land. Crucially, they want the site preserved as a site of national conscience. When will the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Government meet the survivors to discuss these issues? When is the Government going to make a decision? Can the Minister at least tell us today that it is the Government's view that this development should not proceed and that the interests of the survivors, their families and those whose bodies may lie in this land should be put before any development, any developer or any profit? When will that meeting take place? When will a decision be made? Should the building not now proceed?

This is a time to listen. It is a time to listen to the victims, to understand their trauma, to give them the hand of friendship and to work with them on the future of this site. I do not want to say anything or talk about independent reports or authorities that would exacerbate their trauma. We have to work with victims and survivors. The Government will compassionately engage with survivors in the area. I have not spoken with the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste subsequent to the issuing of the decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála. That work will commence across government. The Government has been very much aware of this issue. It is aware of the processes that were going on. It is obviously very difficult to engage when independent institutions are making a determination as part of a legal process. We now have that opportunity. We will engage proactively with victims and survivors. I say that genuinely as someone who really understands the trauma that many families have experienced at the hands of the institutions of this State going back decades.