‘We took too long to act on Tuam’
KATHERINE Zappone admits the Government should have acted sooner and launched a proper inquiry into mother and baby homes before revelations in the Irish Mail on Sunday in 2014.
The Minister for Children was speaking at a conference in Dublin yesterday where she met 120 survivors of the religious homes.
She admitted the Government had been aware of the potential existence of mass graves in 2012. Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, Minister Zappone agreed there was information available on this possibility which had been circulated.
The IMoS exclusively revealed in 2014 that there were concerns 796 children might have been buried in a mass grave at the Tuam home. A commission of inquiry was launched soon after. Prior to this, in 2012, a number of HSE internal memos were circulated by the head of the Intelligence Unit after a preliminary investigation was carried out into the homes in Tuam and Bessboro.
When questioned about the inquiry being set up after the article in 2014, Ms Zappone said: ‘It’s in the Commission now, it’s good that it’s there, it’s not good that we’ve had to wait this long.’
The minister is planning on holding more conferences around the country after yesterday’s meeting was oversubscribed.