Taoiseach Micheál Martin will make a formal State apology to survivors of the mother and baby homes in the Dáil on Wednesday.
As the Irish Times reports, it will follow the publication of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation Report which is understood to say that 9,000 infants died in those institutions after 1922.
A spokesman for the Taoiseach confirmed that the final report of the Commission will be presented to survivors on Tuesday.
The report has also stated the status of “illegitimacy” until 1987 was an “egregious breach of human rights.”
The spokesman said it was more likely the apology would be delivered the following day, Wednesday, when the Dáil resumes after its Christmas break.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet will discuss the report and length and is expected to discuss a number of urgent actions which it will take.
Adopted children
These include the immediate prioritisation of the Adoption and Tracing Bill which allows adopted children gain access to information about their birth mothers.
The Taoiseach, who has read the report, said he found its contents shocking and difficult to read.
The experience faced by mothers and infants in those circumstances was “extraordinarily sad and cruel”, he told The Sunday Independent.
The report found that infant mortality in these institutions was twice as high as for the same types of children in wider society
The Cabinet is also expected to ask Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman to set up an interdepartmental group to explore the issue of redress for survivors, both mothers and children.
