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Justice for the Tuam Babies march. Items of baby clothing were tied to the railings at the back of Leinster House. Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

Number of maternity homes a difficulty for mother and baby inquiry

The Commission have been asked to include a wide range of institutions within their scope of their inquiry.

THE SHEER NUMBER of registered maternity homes presents a “difficulty” for the Commission of Inquiry tasked with investigating mother and baby homes.

Core group

In an inter-departmental report published today into what the government knows about these institutions, it lists the “core group” of Mother and Baby Homes as:

mb Report of the Inter-Departmental Group on Mother and Baby Homes via Department of Children and Youth Affairs Report of the Inter-Departmental Group on Mother and Baby Homes via Department of Children and Youth Affairs

However, the Commission have been asked to include a wide range of institutions within their scope of their inquiry.

The institutions come under the what were known as registered maternity homes (Registration of Maternity Homes Act, 1934). However, while many of the homes catered for unmarried mothers, their function was not solely confined to that function.

Under the Maternity Homes Act 1934 every local authority in Ireland had to register the maternity homes in the county with the Department of Health.

Maternity Homes 

The returns for registered maternity homes for 1947 seen by TheJournal.ie, shows the large scale task that the Commission faces.

The government report states:

… the scale of the challenge can be seen, even on this basis, with over 200 locations having been identified from the records relating to 1949.
The overall difficulty presented from this, of necessity, very curtailed review of the Registration of Maternity Homes Act 1934 records is to distinguish between those institutions which played a significant role in relation to unmarried mothers in a manner that is consistent with the areas to be addressed by the Commission of Investigation.

The report stated that this needs to be done in such a way that it does not unintentionally “bring in other areas which would undermine the effectiveness and timeliness of the Commission of Investigation process”.

Institutions

A number of calls have been made to include a range of institutions such as orphanages, infant homes, children’s homes and residential care centres where children were accommodated but where mothers were not present.

In the report it was stated that this is “understandable” since amongst these will be some such institutions that may have had a relationship with a mother and baby home and/or where issues such as adoption and vaccine  trials which form part of the mother and baby home controversy may also be relevant.

However, a broad-ranging investigation into such institutions would be huge in scope and
would have the potential to repeat much of the work of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse which looked in detail into such institutions, said the report.

Read: Death rate of babies at Tuam mother and baby home was double the rate of other homes>

Read TheJournal.ie’s Mother and Baby Home coverage here>>>>>>

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    Mute Bryan Mills
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    May 31st 2014, 7:33 AM

    Would a Spar have been more favourable?

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    Mute TifFanny Bush
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    May 31st 2014, 7:45 AM

    Yes it would have ,as they would have kept things hidden ‘under the tree’.

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    Mute Kenneth Finn
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    May 31st 2014, 7:49 AM

    They occupy all the 1st floor in what appears to be excellent accommodation. Does everything always have to be dublin based? A sub office is a reasonable solution imo, but can only be a gradual loss of these good jobs back to dublin over a period.

    For a precedent see brussels/strasbourg for the eu.

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    Mute winding_down
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    May 31st 2014, 10:44 AM

    The Strasbourg “precedent” costs the European taxpayer many millions of euro annually (not to mind the environmental impact of shuttling tons of paper up and down from Brussels one week per month). Everybody (Member States and MEPs alike) want it gone, except the veto-wielding French. Hardly a comparable example!

    Fact is that they’ll fail to recruit the best quality replacement for Billy Hawkes because most prospective candidates won’t countenance moving to Portarlington! Unless of course they’re allowed to be based 5-days per week at the “sub-office” in Dublin…

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    May 31st 2014, 7:23 AM

    Love how it says “beside a Central in Laois” as it that’s automatically a bad thing..

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    Mute Patrick Moran
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    May 31st 2014, 7:28 AM

    You might expect to find a post office, a hairdresser or maybe a solicitor beside a Centra in Laois. But an office tasked with policing the privacy rights of 300+ million people ?? That is just a tad Irish.

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    May 31st 2014, 7:29 AM

    An office can be anywhere. This is the 21st century, we have phones, computers a postal system. We’re having a conversation right now and I’m in a house on the ass-end of nowhere – doesn’t affect the quality of the conversation.

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    Mute Niall o' Sullivan
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    May 31st 2014, 7:33 AM

    “An office can be anywhere.” – no it can’t, not a state one.

    Do you make a living from playing Devil’s advocate with yourself?

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    Mute Thomas Maher
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    May 31st 2014, 8:34 AM

    Well it is handy to grab a breakfast roll on way into work and if its you’re turn to get the milk for the staff room.

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    May 31st 2014, 8:36 AM

    What do you imagine goes on in there? People showing up with Lidl bags full of data, asking if the commissioner is in? The Taoiseach dropping in to see how the data is doing and maybe use the photocopier? Or, like most head offices, people sitting at computer screens on the phone?

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    May 31st 2014, 8:46 AM

    It reminds of the mentality that the banks used to have, where you can’t possibly be getting anything done unless your logo is displayed on a palace in College Green.

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    Mute The Truth Hurts
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    May 31st 2014, 9:35 AM

    You still can’t because there’s no staff left… (Ones with a clue that is).

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    Mute Gerry in Laois
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    May 31st 2014, 9:20 AM

    Just for the sake of accuracy, it’s not actually a Centra, it’s a Gala. It changed about a year or so ago.

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    Mute Red4fred
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    May 31st 2014, 9:28 AM

    I’d get on to the DPC about that Gerry

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    Mute Joseph Dempsey
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    May 31st 2014, 7:44 AM

    Extraordinary that such a powerful & yet utterly useless organisation has an office above a local convenience store. Data protection has become the greatest tool for companies, especially telecoms & utilities to obstruct, twart, infuriate, annoy & ultimately discourage customers from making any contact with their suppliers.

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    Mute Patrick Moran
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    May 31st 2014, 7:25 AM

    If I didn’t know better I might think the govt of the day wanted to bury the DPC away in a back yard shed out of sight and mind. Oh wait ….

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    Mute Truth Patrol
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    May 31st 2014, 10:46 AM

    You’re obviously Dublin based Patrick? Anywhere out of Dublin is out of sight, gas attitude. Sure them culchies don’t know what they’re doing :)

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    May 31st 2014, 12:57 PM

    It’s minutes from the motorway network, and therefore far easier for staff to travel from there to various parts of the country than from some overpriced ivory tower in Kildare street.

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    Mute Niall o' Sullivan
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    May 31st 2014, 7:28 AM

    Good stuff Hugh/Journal.

    I, in my mind, had envisaged the DPC in a central Dublin office block beneath or part of, a state department or embassy building.

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    Mute Pierce2020
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    May 31st 2014, 7:40 AM

    This article should have a product placement warning like Fair City

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    Mute Padraig Maloney
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    May 31st 2014, 9:56 AM

    It’s not Centra any more, current owner gave up franchise

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    Mute Padraig Maloney
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    May 31st 2014, 10:02 AM

    Oh, and it’s up for sale at the moment http://www.jordancs.ie/fullpage.aspx?id=567794

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    Mute Thomas Maher
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    May 31st 2014, 10:27 AM

    Its asking price is €1,000,000. Is must be Dr evil selling it.

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    Mute Catherine Mill
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    May 31st 2014, 9:02 PM

    Well, where ever their office is, its officers do amazing work in getting data from certain state agents who try to use all kinds of tactics to block the truth. Example HSE and Probation services. But Data Commissioner was on the ball and did all the hard work for me.

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    Mute Peter Martin
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    Jun 1st 2014, 1:44 AM

    Same here. GSOC by comparison is a total and abject failure and it is a total fraud.

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    Mute Hank Schrader
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    May 31st 2014, 10:27 AM

    No more breakfast rolls for the lads downstairs.

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    Mute Peter Martin
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    May 31st 2014, 2:25 PM

    They are doing a good job of work no matter where their office is located.

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    Mute Diarmuid
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    May 31st 2014, 11:43 AM

    Decentralisation gone mad.

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    Mute Neil Dinnen
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    May 31st 2014, 10:16 AM

    It’s not a Centra anymore. Now plain old O’Hanlon’s.

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