‘Provide DNA kits to Mother and Baby Home survivors’ – Tóibín

A CALL on the government to offer all survivors of mother and baby homes a free DNA testing kit has been made by Deputy Peadar Toibin.

"I understand from engaging with survivors that many of them still have questions about their biological families. It appears Tusla is depriving many of them of their most basic records.

"I'm calling on the government to ensure that Tusla exercise some common sense and compassion towards the survivors they are dealing with. Many people in this country will be familiar with the website ancestry.com where people can take a DNA test and their results are uploaded to the website. This allows site-users to connect with or 'match' with their biological relatives and begin the jig-saw puzzle of creating their family tree.

"This asset is of huge value to survivors many of whom still know nothing of their relatives and genes. I am today calling on the government to offer all survivors of Mother and Baby Homes a free DNA testing kit, to aid their efforts in researching and discovering more about their family and birth. This is a very reasonable request, and I hope that the government will consider my proposal."