Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There has been a huge and entirely appropriate outcry in recent years over the shameful way some of our most vulnerable citizens were treated. We have all been moved by this. As the realisation deepens regarding how unfairly some of our citizens were treated in the past, we more fully understand that the effects continue to ripple through to today. We witness the pain felt so deeply by those who have not been able to access information about their origins or those who have succeeded in doing so but found the toll of the struggle to be substantial. We recognise the importance of lifting the veil of secrecy and honouring those who suffered because a misplaced sense of shame cast them aside when they most needed help and compassion. A veil of secrecy which enabled dignity and respect to be trampled upon for decades has been lifted.

As the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, set out for us, the Government's Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Homes Institutions outlines how the Government is responding to the painful legacy of these institutions in a holistic and wide-ranging way. The proposed mother and baby institutions payment scheme is just one part of this significant work. We have already heard some key updates from the Minister regarding other elements of the action plan. Two important pieces of legislation have already been passed, enacted and commenced this year. I refer to the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 and the Institutional Burials Act 2022. Both of these Acts are significant demonstrations of the Government's commitment to the delivery of a holistic response to this painful episode in our history. It is also important to emphasise that counselling support is available for all survivors and former residents of mother and baby home and county home institutions. It is free of charge and includes out-of-hours support, and survivors enjoy priority access. Proposals for the mother and baby institutions payment scheme were agreed and published alongside the action plan. The proposals for the scheme mean that in terms of estimated beneficiaries it will be the largest scheme of its type in the history of the State and will allow for an estimated 34,000 survivors to be eligible for financial payment and approximately 19,000 survivors to be eligible for an enhanced medical card.

The agreed proposals for the scheme, which have been reflected and strengthened in the proposed Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022, were informed by an independently undertaken consultation with survivors' groups and an advisory paper from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC. Additionally, pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill took place between March and July 2022. Payments and supports under the scheme recognise time spent, harsh conditions, emotional abuse and all other forms of harm, mistreatment, stigma and trauma experienced while resident in a mother and baby or county institution. Applicants, however, will not have to bring forward evidence of abuse, harm or mistreatment to benefit from the scheme. Rather, the design of the scheme is predicated on being non-adversarial and as straightforward as possible, with the aim of mitigating the risk that applicants will be retraumatised by engaging with the process. To achieve this objective, the payments will be based on residency.

The payments schedule is designed so that those who spent most time in these institutions receive the highest levels of payment because, in the majority of cases, these were women and children who experienced the worst conditions for a prolonged time. In the Bill approved by the Government, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has made improvements on the original proposals. He has improved the overall payment approach by introducing more refined payment bands that will benefit many applicants to the scheme. He has also introduced a feature in the calculation process that will include periods of temporary absence in the records of some applicants, which will enable a more just approach for those impacted.

The Government believes all relevant parties have a collective responsibility to respond to Ireland's legacy in respect of the mother and baby situations. Discussions on seeking a contribution from the religious congregations towards the mother and baby institutions payment scheme are ongoing. The Government is fully committed to delivering this scheme as soon as possible and the Minister's Department is making the necessary arrangements to establish an executive office within the Department to administer the scheme. Once the legislation has been passed by the Oireachtas and the administrative infrastructure established, the scheme will be able to begin accepting applications.

I reiterate that this scheme should not be viewed in isolation as the State's sole response to Ireland's legacy concerning mother and baby home institutions. It is, of course, a very significant scheme and a centrepiece of the Government's action plan. Important work, however, has also been under way on all other aspects of this action plan, which aims to acknowledge suffering, provide support, rebuild trust and promote healing.

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