Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

acknowledges: —that the State failed the women and children who were in Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes institutions;

—that women and their children were unlawfully separated during their time in these institutions;

—that women and their children were unlawfully separated during their time in institutions not investigated by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters;

—that women and their children were unlawfully separated in non-institutionalised settings, including through adoption agencies and private facilitators;

—the Taoiseach’s acceptance of the lack of respect for the fundamental dignity and rights of mothers and children who spent time in these institutions and that the State did not uphold its duty of care to them;

—that the Taoiseach’s apology in January did not acknowledge the full extent of the human rights violations experienced by people affected by this issue;

—that the State has failed to acknowledge the full extent of unlawful and forced family separation; and

—that the final report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters is currently being challenged in the High Court;

recognises:

—the personal trauma and human rights abuse of forced family separation;

—that the harms associated with forced family separation are not dependent on length of stay in a Mother and Baby Home or similar institution;

—that the harms associated with forced family separation are not dependent on spending time in an institution; and

—that the exclusion of people who were in these institutions for a period less than six months, people who were boarded out, people who were in institutions not falling under the remit of the Commission of Investigation, and people who experienced forced family separation but were not institutionalised is inequitable and unjust;

commends the survivors, mothers, adopted people, their families, and the families of the children who died in these institutions for sharing their lived experiences and trauma, and those who have advocated on their behalf; and

calls on the Government to:

—seek immediate and substantive recourse from religious orders and pharmaceutical companies to contribute to the State’s redress scheme;

—use OAK’s ‘Report of the findings of the Consultation with Survivors of Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes’ as a basis for amending the proposed redress scheme;

—engage immediately with the victims and survivors’ organisations and those directly affected by the scandal of Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes institutions; and

—urgently review, in consultation with these groups, the following matters:

—the time-based criteria;

—the exclusion of children who were boarded out from the redress scheme;

—access to the enhanced medical card;

—proposed payment rates;

—the failure to include all Mother and Baby Homes, County Homes, institutions, agencies and individuals involved in forced family separation;

—the legal waiver attached to the scheme; and

—amend the scheme accordingly to meet the needs of the survivors." I wish to share time with colleagues. I will take the first seven minutes.

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