Thread by @gavreilly

Taoiseach singles out the finding that mother and baby homes had significantly higher mortality rates than broader society

He also singles out Catherine Corless for the work she did on researching the burial records of Tuam which prompted this State inquiry

Taoiseach says he will issue the State apology in Dáil Éireann tomorrow

Roderic O'Gorman says the report reflects a society which was "stifling, oppressive and deeply misogynistic"

O'Gorman: Every person who spoke out led us to the truth that we see today… this is an extraordinary moment for those for whom this is not history, but everyday living pain

O'Gorman: Legislation allowing dignified excavation of Tuam, and testing on remains, will be passed this year

O'Gorman: We will not shy away from taking responsibility for what happened in, and what is needed in reply to, this report

Josepha Madigan: "There remains much more listening to do, and this is one of those days"

Madigan: "Personally I'd like to know where all the fathers were… why did they not stand by the mothers of their children? But they didn't, they turned the other way"

Anne Rabbitte: As a woman, mother, and daughter who lives within miles of Tuam, I've been nervous awaiting this… for the public to face to face that this happened in our lifetimes and communities

Rabbitte: "As a mother I wonder what sort of societal pressure I'd have to be under to turn my back on my children… society must be responsible for forcing the hands of these families… the circle of blame is vast"

Rabbitte singling out a few points of personal testimony. Concludes that a "staggering number of young girls didn't even know they'd have sex, consented to nothing, abuse, beatings, or giving their baby away."

Taoiseach "will give further consideration" to calls for a State apology to be deferred, but says that in previous instances a State apology was the catalyst for other actions. "We want to get the sequence right, but we want to move now."

I ask O'Gorman how the report might find no evidence of physical abuse or forced adoption, while publishing testimony which shows it:

ROG: The stories before the confidential committee do contain abuse… many were not in homes, but in the boarding-out or fostering situations

General gist of reply (and to be fair O'Gorman did not write the report, so he's trying to rationalise the commission's thinking) is that people were forced by their circumstances into giving children for adoption, rather than being coerced by any specific party

Taoiseach: I would draw a distinction between religion and Christianity… You have excessive religiosity on display here. You don't have any Christianity at all.

Taoiseach: "The religious orders should make a contribution to any scheme the Government will be developing… where lands have been sold there will be proceeds there that can contribute to such a scheme"