Gardaí seek criminal leads on Mother and Baby Homes
An Garda Síochána has today appealed to anyone who wishes to report a crime relating to a pregnancy and/or abuse involving their stay at a Mother and Baby Home to contact them.
To support the reporting of such crimes, a dedicated email address has been created - MotherandBabyHomes@garda.ie - along with a confidential freephone number, 1800 555 222.
A statement today said anyone who contacts An Garda Síochána on such matters will be contacted back within 48 hours.
An Garda Síochána said it was fully aware of the profound impact on the lives of those who were in Mother and Baby Homes and the concerns of the wider public on how the homes operated.
It's inviting anyone who was the victim of a criminal act arising out of the Mother and Baby Homes, or who has information likely to assist an investigation into a criminal act committed at a Mother and Baby Home, to come forward and report it.
For the purpose of reporting to An Garda Síochána, the following options are available:
1. By emailing: MotherandBabyHomes@garda.ie
2. By phoning the Garda Child Sexual Abuse Reporting Line on 1800 555 222. This is a confidential and free service available 24/7
3. Calling to a Garda station.
The Gardai said they would deal with any matters reported by complainants in a sensitive manner and would, where possible, progress matters through investigation.
A dedicated team in the force has reviewed the report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission to determine whether information in the report could form the basis for commencing criminal investigations.
Having considered the commission report, they formed the view that there's insufficient detail in the report to commence criminal investigation at this moment.
The report is anonymised, and any proper investigation would not be possible without identification of individual parties affected by specific occurrences.
As such, An Garda Síochána is appealing to anyone with information about crimes at Mother and Baby Homes to make contact with them so that such crimes can be investigated where possible.