Minister for Children and Youth
Affairs Katherine Zappone has said her department will spend a number
of weeks considering how best to broaden the terms of reference of the
Commission of Investigation into the Tuam Mother and Baby Home to
include other institutions where unmarried women and children lived.Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Ms Zappone said she also hoped to initiate a "transitional justice" approach to place victims and survivors countrywide at the centre of the healing process.
She said such an approach could deal with the effects of large scale of human rights violations inflicted on unmarried women for four decades that would extend beyond a legal framework.
A National Day of Commemoration or the acquisition of some of the buildings involved are also matters being considered by the State to help in the healing process, she said.
Ms Zappone said her department is looking at the parameters an extended commission would include and that survivors will be seeking compensation.
Time is needed to best reflect on all matters involved, she said.
Irish Women Survivors Network chair Sally Mulready, who also sits on the Council of State, has welcomed the minister's announcement of a "transitional justice" approach to place victims and survivors countrywide at the centre of the healing process.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, she said Minister Zappone's suggestion is a wonderful one and believes it will be well received.
Ms Mulready said she hopes the coalition of survivor groups will get a hearing, having asked for one.