It could be several months before the full Commission of Inquiry into mother and baby homes gets up and running.

James Reilly says it will be the autumn before the government signs off on the terms of reference for the inquiry.

His predecessor as Children's minister, Charlie Flanagan, had hoped to have the terms of reference agreed before the Dáil summer recess.

Yesterday, it was announced that Judge Yvonne Murphy will chair the inquiry.

The institutions came back into focus in recent months after fresh controversy over a mass grave in Galway, where it is thought hundreds of children may be buried.

Meanwhile an inter-departmental report also found evidence that the remains of 474 dead children were transferred to medical schools between 1940 and 1965 without the consent of their families.

The new children's minister says the government needs to make sure the inquiry is comprehensive, without going on for too long.