IRELAND
Irish Independent
John Downing
Published 11/06/2014
POOR young women who had children outside marriage were treated as “an inferior sub-species” for decades in Ireland, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said as he announced a major state inquiry into religious-run mother-and-baby homes.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that in many cases their treatment, and that of their babies, was an abomination,” the Taoiseach said in an emotive statement to the Dail.
Children’s Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said the special commission will investigate the deaths of babies at mother-and-baby homes across the country in the wake of the discovery of a mass grave in Tuam containing almost 800 babies’ remains. He said the inquiry will cover the infant mortality rate, vaccines, medical trials, the geographic spread of these institutions and the legal complexities.
Mr Flanagan conceded that the question of compensation ultimately may arise and could not be ruled out. “But dealing with matters of compensation at this stage is premature,” he told the Irish Independent.
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