Excavation at the site of the Tuam mother-and-baby home won't begin until the second half of next year.

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned that new legislation will be needed before work can begin.

The State inquiry into mother and baby homes last year confirmed that 'significant quantities' of human remains had been found on the Bon Secours site.

Mr Varadkar said the excavation and forensic examination of the site will be the first of its kind in Ireland – with new laws required before the dig can begin.

“We anticipate that there will be excavations in Tuam in the latter half of 2019 because we have to pass legislation in the Oireachtas giving us as a Government the power to do actually do the excavations, because for lots of reasons we don’t have the power to do that,” he said.

“So, we will have to pass that legislation in the New Year and we would envisage carrying out the first excavations in the second half of 2019.”

The State Commission of Investigation report in late 2017 identified human remains in 17 out of 20 chambers within the boundaries of what is currently referred to as the memorial garden at the Tuam site.

The report suggested that as a many as 796 children may have been buried there between 1925-1961. 

Mr Varadkar said preparatory work for the dig will continue while the legislation is being debated.

“We can start appointing the experts and the forensic teams and the people who will be doing the actual work,” he said.

“We have never really done this before in Ireland on this scale so we have a lot to learn on how to do it.

“We are not entirely sure what we are getting into but as a Government we are convinced this is the right thing to do.”

When the excavation of the site was announced in October, the Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone said a team of officials from different Government Departments would be assembled to draft legislation allowing for the excavation.

She said the excavation would be the first of its kind with a team of experts – including forensic archaeologists and DNA experts likely to be brought in from outside the country.

It is estimated the cost of the excavation could run anywhere between €6m and €13m.

Once the excavation is complete, the Government will arrange the burial or memorialisation of all the remains found on the site.