Galway Bay fm newsroom - An Oireachtas Committee examining proposed legislation to allow the exhumation of remains at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home has been described as falling far short of what expected and promised.
The purpose of the bill is to provide the statutory basis and framework to allow interventions at sites nationwide where inappropriate burials have taken place.
The Joint Committee on Children, Disability, Equality and Integration is meeting in several sessions today to scrutinize the General Scheme of a Certain Institutional Burials (Authorised interventions) Bill.
Concerns have been raised about the bill, with many feeling it does not allow for proper investigation of deaths, nor does it have the rights and needs of survivors at its core.
The committee today is hearing from a range of witnesses, experts and politicians - the first to appear this morning was Tuam historian Catherine Corless.
She said after the initial shock and horror expressed in March 2017 with the revelation of the babies and children buried there, the Tuam Mother and Baby Home story fell silent.
Co-founder of the Adoption Rights Alliance, Susan Lohan, said the bill falls far short of what was expected and promised.
Professor Phil Scraton said more consideration should be given to the needs of survivors and families.
He cited inquests he's been previously involved in, such as the Hillsborough Disaster and the 7/7 bombings in London.
Today's session is being held in four separate meetings to comply with Covid-19 guidelines.
