I 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 of basic human dignity for survivors and for the babies and mothers who did not survive. We are also talking about what exactly it means when the State makes an apology for something. The State is making plenty of apologies these days but what do they mean? We all know what a hollow apology sounds and feels like. How do we know, and how does the State express it is actually sorry when it comes to survivors of mother and baby homes? There always tends to be a focus on the financial redress side of a State apology but true justice requires a much broader and more holistic approach than simple financial restitution. That is the easy part, and we are not even getting that right by putting up arbitrary barriers based on time spent on institutions if one wants to apply to these things. A genuine apology requires self-reflection and changed attitudes and behaviours towards people who may previously have been excluded and looked down upon and changed approaches to how the State conducts its business so that the failures and sins of the past are not 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 took place on the grounds of Bessborough. The absence of certainty around the location of the remains of those who died at Bessborough is precisely why planning permission was refused for a redevelopment there by An Bord Pleanála in 2021. Nothing has changed in the interim. We cannot atone for best Bessborough, this national shame, by bulldozing it and paving over the memories of those who lost their lives there. Special advocate for survivors, Patricia Carey, has spoken about how this proposal has been retraumatising for survivors. I am sure the Minister has seen the letter written by a number of human rights lawyers and academics from the University of Galway to An Coimisiún Pleanála today regarding this site, and is aware that the State has failed to comply with its obligations under European human rights law with regard to deaths and disappearances. We need to heed the calls from the survivors.

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