The Irish government is to set up a formal investigation into issues in mother and baby homes, which were run by churches and the state.
A special commission of investigation will examine the high mortality rates, burial practices and secret and illegal adoption and vaccine trials on children at these homes.
Irish minister for children Charles Flanagan said it is essential all the facts are established.
The Irish government’s move came one day after Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin called for a full- bodied investigation into mother-and-baby homes.
There had been an outcry after publicity about the deaths of nearly 800 children at one home in Tuam from 1925 to 1961.
Some of their remains are believed to be in a disused septic tank.
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