"Leaking of contents of Mother and Baby Home report grossly insulting" - Tóibín
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD has hit out at the fact that details about the report from the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes have been leaked to the media.
Deputy Tóibín said: "I previously wrote to the Minister to ask that when the final report from the MBHCOI is up for publication, survivors would be furnished with it first, ahead of the media. Minister O'Gorman's predecessor Katherine Zappone had acquired a habit, during her term, of driving to straight to Donnybrook to appear on RTE news, before reaching out to survivors. This report is bound to make for difficult reading, and will likely be distressing for survivors of institutional abuse, indeed counselling services are being offered to survivors. To see details of the report, on the front page of a newspaper this morning, is a punch in the gut for survivors".
Deputy Tóibín continued: "Of course the irony is not lost on anyone - there was controversy earlier this year when it looked like survivors would be deprived of information, with the sealing of records for 30 years, and yet now it appears someone in the Department/government has leaked contents of the report to the media. It is disgusting. I would like to call on the Minister to make a public commitment today to furnish every survivor and relevant person with a copy of this report before he gives any interviews to the media", concluded Tóibín.
