First cousins of children believed to be buried at the site of the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam, will soon be able to participate in the identification programme pending a change to legislation.
Cabinet has approved proposals to amend the Institutional Burials Act 2022 to include first cousins as eligible family members who can provide DNA.
The Institutional Burials Act allows for the excavation, recovery, identification and reburial of children's remains at the site of the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam.
It provides for a DNA programme to identify human remains but the legislation only allows for close relatives (parents, siblings, aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, grandnieces/nephews) rather than cousins.
When the act was undergoing prelegislative scrutiny, the potential of technological developments to include cousins was not ruled out however, at the time, scientific challenges were noted.
The Department of Children recently received updated scientific advice from Forensic Science Ireland that supports the inclusion of first cousins in an identification programme.
Minister Norma Foley has said she was "keen to move quickly" when she received the updated scientific advice.
Officials in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality will now work with the Office of the Attorney General to draft amendments with a view to introducing them in the Houses of the Oireachtas as soon as possible according to the minister.
The Special Advocate for Survivors has said she has heard from many people both in Ireland and abroad who wish to give DNA, and who want to have connection and closure to their loved ones buried on the site.
In a statement, Patricia Carey said "it is crucial that all those who believe that they have a relative who died and is buried at the site of the former county home institutions have access to the DNA programme for those 796 children who died and they are buried there".
She pointed out that almost 10,000 children and mothers died in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions across Ireland, and "the vast majority of these are disappeared" as their burial grounds are unknown.
Ms Carey called for the identification of all burial grounds in institutions where they are not currently identified.
She said dignified memorialisation was part of redress for families, where loved ones are disappeared, and it is not known where they are buried.
In particular, she called for immediate Government action to stop the proposed building works for apartments on the grounds of the Bessborough Mother and baby institution where 923 children died and only 64 burial records exist.