Dáil debates

Tuesday, 23 November 2021

Mother and Baby Homes Redress Scheme: Motion [Private Members]

 

7:05 pm

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to address the issues raised in this motion. We are all united in our belief that the State must take responsibility for the indisputable wrongs that were visited on women and children who spent time in these institutions. As the Taoiseach stated in his apology earlier this year, "The State failed you - the mothers and children in these homes." It would be difficult to find a family in Ireland whose lives the legacy of mother and baby institutions has not touched. It weighs heavily on individuals and on us as a country.

Since coming into office, I have met many survivors. I have listened to their stories and I know that for each survivor of these institutions the experience has had a unique and deeply personal impact. There are no easy answers when it comes to trying to remedy the huge grief and anguish that survivors have experienced. I know there is no sum of money or action that can adequately atone for the vast harm, the lasting trauma, and the impact mother and baby institutions have had on each individual who passed through their doors. My engagement has also shown that redress for survivors is a broad concept.

What I have found throughout the last 18 months is that Government is an imperfect vehicle for the restitution of past wrongs. It can move slowly, often out of necessity, to deliberate, but at a time when those affected have already waited for far too long. When the commission's report was published in January, I made it clear that this work was a priority for the Government. In the 11 months since, we have: advanced legislation to allow for exhumation at Tuam; introduced draft legislation to allow access to birth and early life information; and opened the commission's archive to survivors. Throughout all of this I have sought to work constructively with Deputies and Senators from all sides. Previously, I have accepted Private Members' Bills where the intention of that legislation reflected the Government's and I have worked with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to progress legislation. Given the sensitivity of these issues, I have aimed to seek consensus over division and to allow for these issues to be fully debated. It is on this basis, that the Government will not oppose the motion brought forward by Sinn Féin and supported by some other parties this evening. We will be bringing forward legislation in the new year to support the establishment of a payment scheme and during that time, Deputies will have the opportunity to bring forward specific proposals with their views on that scheme.

In January of this year, when the commission's report was published, there was significant criticism within this House and outside, of the categories suggested to be eligible for payment in that report.

Although not part of its terms of reference, the commission recommended the following three categories for consideration: people who were resident as unaccompanied children in a mother and baby or county institution; pregnant women who entered mother and baby or county institutions before 1974 and who spent six months in such institutions; and women who undertook commercial work without pay in county homes, in the Tuam mother and baby home or outside a mother and baby institution where they were resident.

If a six-month residency condition was applied to the categories identified by the commission, it is estimated that 6,500 people would have been eligible for a financial payment and the cost of providing this payment and the enhanced medical card would have been €400 million. Concerns about the use of those criteria were a central theme in the debates that we have had in this House and in many of the parliamentary questions that Deputies have submitted to me.

The interdepartmental group, established to bring proposals on a scheme to Government, made broader recommendations. It recommended that all those who spent more than six months in an institution as mothers or children would qualify for a financial payment and an enhanced medical card. This would have increased the number eligible for benefits under the scheme to 19,000 individuals and would have cost €673 million. However, in the decision the Government took last week, the Government went significantly further.

Having considered the interdepartmental group's report, and noting the feedback from the consultation process, the Government has brought forward a scheme which will provide financial payments to an estimated 34,000 people and enhanced medical cards to an estimated 19,000 people. The value of this scheme is €800 million. It will be the largest scheme of its kind in the history of the State in terms of the number of beneficiaries.

In bringing forward this scheme, the Government is responding to the concerns about the categories that have been raised since the commission's report. It will include all mothers, including those who entered an institution after 1974 and who spent any period of time in one of these institutions.

It will also include children, both unaccompanied and accompanied, who spent six months or more in an institution. This expansion recognises that a strong case was made that there was little distinction in reality between being an unaccompanied or an accompanied child in one of the institutions.

For children who spent short periods of time in an institution during their infancy, and recognising the diverse understanding of redress, the Government's action plan provides a response to their needs in the birth information and tracing Bill. The legislation will provide guaranteed access to an unredacted birth certificate, as well as wider birth and early life information for those who have questions in relation to their origins. This is the overwhelming priority need which has been expressed by people who, as children, were adopted or otherwise separated from their birth family.

It is also important to emphasise that for all survivors and former residents of mother and baby and county home institutions, counselling support is available under the National Counselling Service. It is free of charge, includes out-of-hours support and survivors are entitled to priority access.

Through the consultation process survivors made it very clear that they want a scheme that is non-adversarial, simple and based on trust. Survivors did not want a scheme that would require evidence of the harm done to them. The requirement for a low burden of proof was also a key issue raised. This is what the mother and baby institutions payment scheme seeks to deliver.

It was concluded that providing a general payment based on time spent, with no requirement to bring forward any evidence of abuse or harm, was the best way to ensure that this scheme causes no further trauma or harm. The simplicity of the scheme will also allow it to be established and for payments to be made more quickly.

In terms of next steps, I want to confirm that I will be seeking significant contributions from the relevant religious congregations towards the cost of the scheme. I wrote initially to the religious authorities involved in the operation of the relevant institutions in January, when the commission's report was published. When bringing proposals for this scheme to Cabinet I contacted them again, signalling I intended to bring forward this scheme imminently and seeking a meeting to discuss their contribution to the cost of the scheme. I am due to meet several of the congregations in the coming weeks.

Beyond the matter of the congregations' contribution, I want to assure survivors that everything in our power will be done to get the scheme up and running swiftly and that the scheme will be designed so that the applications from older and vulnerable survivors will be prioritised.

Due to the magnitude of the scheme, legislation is required to establish it. My officials are preparing a general scheme of a Bill as a matter of urgency and I have confirmed with my Cabinet colleagues that I will look for priority drafting of the Bill when the general scheme comes to Government.

The mother and baby payment scheme, providing 34,000 survivors with financial payments and 19,000 survivors with an enhanced medical card, is just one element of the Government's comprehensive response to the legacy of mother and baby institutions.

I have spoken already of the legislation to allow for the remains in Tuam to be exhumed, identified and reburied, of the birth information and tracing legislation giving a legal right to an unredacted birth certificate, and of access to the commission's archive which has already been taken up by 300 survivors. We are also progressing commitments on a national memorial and records centre, which will appropriately memorialise and inform on Ireland's history of institutional abuse.

We are also progressing health research with former residents, the introduction of the history of this period into the secondary curriculum through the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, research scholarships on childhood disadvantage, and an examination of the terminology and language we use when discussing these issues.

All 22 actions, each of which represents a particular facet of the State's response and each of which represents elements of the State's redress to individual survivors and to survivors as a group, continue to be advanced by my Department and across Government.

I thank the Deputies for their contributions to this debate. Most importantly, I, again, pay tribute to the resilience, courage, engagement and patience of survivors, their families and advocates. As a Government, we will continue to work at responding to the legacy of mother and baby institutions.

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