The remains of children buried in a mass unmarked grave in Tuam, County Galway, could be exhumed later this year under newly-published legislation.

Hundreds of children died from various causes in the Tuam mother and baby home over a 36-year-period but almost 800 of them have no known graves.

In 2017, children's remains were found in a mass grave in an underground tank.

If passed, the bill will allow remains to be exhumed and, where possible, identified and returned to relatives.

The draft legislation was published on Tuesday by the Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman who said families have been waiting too long for their loved one's remains to be recovered from the site.

"What happened at Tuam is a stain on our national conscience," the minister said.

"The Institutional Burials Bill will allow us, at long last, to afford the children interred at Tuam a dignified and respectful burial."

The draft legislation sets out the rules on how and when the state should intervene to exhume human remains in cases, like Tuam, where inappropriate burials have taken place.