Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach notes the Secretary General's work on the national memorial and records centre. This is an important commitment by the Government and its delivery will ensure that Ireland meets its moral and human rights obligations to the women and children who endured institutional abuse overseen by the State. The Government's action plan for mother and baby home survivors commits funding to support this process. Will the Taoiseach confirm the budget allocated for this year and next? Will he state when he expects the Secretary General to conclude his work on what role the Oireachtas will have in this process?

I also want to raise the views of the special rapporteur on child protection on the final report of the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes. Professor Conor O'Mahony advises that:

Any redress scheme which excludes children who were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, forced labour [or] medical experimentation in [through] non-consensual vaccine trials would be inherently defective and a denial of the right to an effective remedy.

Yet, this is precisely what the Government has done by applying an arbitrary timeframe to enable access to the scheme. The special rapporteur recommends that:

redress for rights violations in foster homes should not be confined to children who were [boarded out] as an exit pathway from Mother and Baby Homes or County Homes, but should encompass all children who experienced ill-treatment or forced labour in foster homes.

Has the Taoiseach considered extending access to the redress scheme, following publication of the Annual Report of the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection?

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