Maureen Considine, spokeswoman of the Cork Survivors and Supporters Alliance, made a submission to the consultation phase undertaken by the Working Group on Actions Involving Local Authorities.
The working group was set up as part of the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions.
While it was expected the group would submit a report to then minister with responsibility for local government, Alan Dillon, last year, the report has not yet been finalised.
The working group has responsibility for drawing up guidelines on the provision of support for survivors and their families by local authorities, as well as for local memorialisation projects in line with the wishes of former residents of mother and baby homes.
Among the strands for consideration were the issues at local level “in relation to the memorialisation of known burial sites and/or sites of particular interest to former residents and their support groups, including where those sites are not in the ownership of local authorities, and the challenges and opportunities these might present.”
According to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the final drafting of the report and guidelines is under way. In the coming weeks, it will be submitted for Minister James Browne's approval. Following Mr Browne's approval, the report will be forwarded to all local authorities and published.
Ms Considine said that the lack of progress on local memorialisation by central government “reflects its attitude towards the institutions in both the past and present”.
“The graves of women and girls in the Good Shepherds (institution) remain inaccessible and the burial place of Bessborough babies is unmarked and owned by a developer," Ms Considine said.
"After all that has occurred in the recent past, we should be able to expect better, the Government should do better.”
It comes as efforts are under way to acknowledge dozens of people who died in several institutions in Cork City and who are buried in a large plot in Curraghkippane cemetery, near Kerry Pike.
Currently, there are 53 crosses in place inside the railing which blocks the plot off from the rest of the cemetery.
Among those buried in the plot are people who died in psychiatric hospitals, industrial schools, and mother and baby homes in Cork City between the 1940s and early 2000s.
Among the institutions where those buried in the plot died were Our Lady’s Hospital, St Finbarr’s Hospital and St Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire, as well as Magdalene laundries and industrial schools.
The plot is owned by the HSE. A HSE spokesperson said a meeting is due to take place shortly between HSE South West and other agencies in relation to the site there.