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

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

Today I am bringing the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill before the House. The primary purpose of the Bill is to establish a scheme to make payments and to provide a form of enhanced medical card to eligible applicants. The scheme will recognise the time spent and the harsh conditions, emotional abuse and other forms of mistreatment, stigma and trauma, experienced by people while resident in a mother and baby or county home institution.

I reiterate that the Government is under no illusion that there is any financial payment or service provision that could make up for the immense pain and suffering endured by so many of our citizens whose lives have been impacted by the shameful legacy of mother and baby home institutions in Ireland. That immense pain has had a unique impact on each and every survivor. We cannot take that pain away and I am truly sorry for that. However, we can offer support to all of those who need it and ensure that such things never happen again.

I thank survivors for sharing their experiences with me and with many of Members here today to help us all understand what they have been through. Recognising the unique impact of time spent in these institutions on each and every survivor requires a wide range of tailored remedies.

Redress means different things to different people and as such the Government's action plan for survivors and former residents of mother and baby and county home institutions seeks to provide an enduring response to the priority needs of all those concerned. The mother and baby institutions payment scheme is one action in this broad-reaching plan, which spans a wide range of priority issues that have been raised by survivors and includes significant commitments across the areas of apology; access to personal information; health supports; financial payments; memorialisation; records, archives and databases; education and research; and dignified burial.

The ongoing work in this area is a top priority for me, with eight of the 22 commitments set out in the action plan already achieved and intensive work under way on many others. Following the publication of the general scheme of this Bill last March, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth conducted pre-legislative scrutiny. I am grateful to the Chair, Deputy Funchion, and all of the members for their examination of the legislative proposals. I also appreciate the committee's acknowledging the features of the scheme which it welcomed, including the low burden of proof built into the design of the scheme and the moves beyond the commission of investigation's recommendations, particularly regarding including in the scheme survivors who were resident in the institutions post 1973. This low burden of proof has been achieved by basing the approach to the scheme on time spent in an institution.

I carefully considered the committee's recommendations. I believe the Bill represents a considerable improvement on the general scheme published last March. I have been able to incorporate some of the committee's recommendations in the Bill. Some other recommendations are being considered as part of the design and operational roll-out of the scheme itself, while the intent of some others is being achieved through the broader action plan. As recommended by the committee, the scheme has been designed with regard to human rights and equality principles. The proposals were informed by an advisory paper prepared by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission as well as by the public consultation process undertaken by OAK.

The recommendations that the administration of the scheme should be underscored by independence also feature in the Bill.

The office of the chief deciding officer will function as part of my Department in order to benefit from its corporate structures and to allow for a quicker establishment of the scheme. However, the Bill provides that the chief deciding officer will be independent in the performance of his or her functions. Furthermore, recourse to an independent appeals process is also provided for in the Bill.

With regard to the recommended expansion of the scheme to cover additional institutions, the Bill provides for the list of institutions in Schedule 1 to be expanded if it were to come to light that an institution fulfilled a similar function with regard to single women and their children as the 14 mother and baby institutions for which the State had a regulatory or inspection function. One of the pre-legislative scrutiny recommendations called for survivors to be provided with funded legal aid at all stages of engaging with the scheme. The Bill makes provision for applicants to be financially supported in obtaining legal services in two circumstances, namely, where an affidavit is required and where they wish to seek legal advice at the point of accepting a payment under the scheme and, thus, signing a legal waiver. It is important to note that the scheme will adopt a non-adversarial approach and applicants will not be required to bring forward evidence of abuse suffered. Applicants will be supported in making an application to the scheme and throughout that process.

On the recommendation to increase the payment amounts under the scheme, I have improved the overall approach to the payment rates by introducing more refined bands. This will benefit applicants, particularly where they would have been at the upper end of a given annual band under the original proposals. I have also introduced into the Bill that periods of temporary absence of up to 180 days can be included when calculating the total duration of a person's time in a relevant institution and their corresponding financial payment. This recognises that many mothers and children spent time outside an institution, for example, as a result of a hospital stay. The inclusion of such periods of temporary absences will also have the effect of increasing the payment amounts which some applicants may be entitled to.

There was another cohort of recommendations which are not directly reflected in the Bill but which are being incorporated in the design and operational roll-out of the scheme. When the scheme is operational, a comprehensive communications campaign will be undertaken both in Ireland and abroad. My officials are currently working on the overall communications strategy for the scheme. The recommendation that a stakeholder advisory group should be established is also being taken on board as part of the design and roll-out of the scheme, with plans in development to put in place a stakeholder reference group. Under action 1 of the Government's action plan, work is also under way on the development of a new structure to support wider stakeholder engagement.

This brings me on to a number of recommendations where the intent is being achieved through the broader action plan. For example, in terms of the use of sensitive and appropriate language, researchers from the University of Galway, funded by my Department, have been working on a project aiming to highlight the stigmatising and labelling language that has been used in the past, and to provide guidance as to how to address this issue. With regard to the role of local authorities in assisting survivors, I continue to liaise with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on how survivors can be better supported. Counselling support is available to all survivors and former residents of mother and baby and county home institutions through the national counselling service in the HSE. It is free of charge, including out-of-hours support, and those who identify themselves as survivors of the institutions are prioritised for the next available counselling space.

In the context of the action plan, I want to address the sentiments expressed by those who feel excluded from redress because their circumstances are not covered by the payment scheme. I stress again that it is through the action plan that the Government is delivering the most inclusive response possible to the suffering experienced by so many who have been hurt by Ireland's legacy in this area. The scheme is one element of that plan and can only deliver a limited amount. Following deliberations on the design of the scheme, it was decided that a general payment, based on time spent in the institution, was the best option in order to provide for a non-adversarial approach to delivering the scheme. It is not a perfect solution but it means applicants will not have to bring forward evidence of abuse, harm or mistreatment in order to benefit from the scheme. This approach, unfortunately, does not cater for the circumstances of people who were boarded. Given their very individual experiences, they would have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The action plan includes other measures that will provide support and assistance to those who were boarded out as children, including access to birth and early life information as part of the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022, and the provision of an ex-gratiapayment to reimburse anyone who was boarded out and had to pay inheritance taxes for farms they inherited from their foster parents. Furthermore, funding of €330,000 has been provided for specialist therapeutic counselling services to persons who were boarded out or placed at nurse as children. Those who were boarded out after having spent more than six months in a mother and baby or county institution will of course be able to apply to the payment scheme for the time spent in that institution.

With regard to children who spent less than six months in an institution and were adopted or otherwise separated from their birth family, the overwhelming priority need expressed is for access to records. The action plan responds to their needs through the recently enacted Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022. From 3 October, statutory Information and tracing services under the Act opened, guaranteeing people access to their birth and early life information. In the first two weeks, over 4,000 applications have been received under the Act. The Government's proposals for the scheme mean financial payments will be made to an estimated 34,000 people and a form of enhanced medical card will be provided to an estimated 19,000 people who were resident in mother and baby and county home institutions, at a value of approximately €800 million. These proposals go significantly beyond the recommendations of the commission of investigation, under which an estimated 6,500 people would have been eligible for a financial payment, at an estimated cost of €400 million. This will be the largest scheme of its kind in the history of the State in terms of beneficiaries, recognising the scale of the impact of mother and baby institutions on Irish society.

I will now outline the key parts of the Bill as initiated. Part 1 provides for a number of preliminary matters including commencement and the payment of expenses for the administration of the Act and the making of regulations and orders. Part 1 also provides for the relevant definitions. A key definition is that of "relevant person", encompassing a person who was resident as a child or a mother, or both, in one of the institutions listed in Schedule 1, and, therefore, eligible to apply for the scheme.

Part 2 provides for the establishment of the scheme and its duration, guaranteeing that all applications received before the closing date of the scheme will be processed. The scheme will be administered through the office of the chief deciding officer of the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, which will be situated in my Department. The chief deciding officer will be independent in the performance of their functions relating to the scheme. In order that the scheme may open as quickly as possible, this approach allows for the office to draw on my Department's existing infrastructure and resources to support the fastest possible establishment of the scheme, including the administrative structures required to operate it. The chief deciding officer will be provided with staff to assist with the operation of the scheme, and there is potential to contract third-party support to undertake some of the more straightforward processing tasks. The office of the chief deciding officer will widely promote awareness of the scheme, in Ireland and abroad, and will prepare an annual report, which I will lay before each House of the Oireachtas.

Part 3 provides for all aspects of the application, determination and notification processes for applicants and also for the arrangements in respect of internal reviews and the independent appeals process, where an applicant is not happy with a determination on their application.

The benefits available to applicants under the scheme are a general payment, a work-related payment, an enhanced medical card and a health support payment. The overall determination of an applicant's eligibility for benefits under the scheme hinges on his or her period of residence in one of the institutions. The general and work-related payment amounts will rise based on time spent in one of the institutions. Regarding eligibility for the health support payment, applicants who are deemed eligible for a form of enhanced medical card under the scheme but who live outside of Ireland may choose to take the card or opt instead to receive a once-off health support payment of €3,000, in recognition of their individual health needs.

The Bill sets out what people need to do to make an application to the scheme. One application can cover time spent in different institutions, so only one application to the scheme is required. However, if an additional institution is added to Schedule 1, a person will be entitled to make a further application in respect of that institution. Certain applications can be prioritised, having regard to the age or health status of the applicant, if the chief deciding officer considers it is in the interest of fairness and efficiency to do so. To support the assessment of applications, the Bill provides for the office of the chief deciding officer to be able to search the copy of the commission of investigation's archive held by my Department, to establish the applicant's period of residency in a relevant institution. The office of the chief deciding officer will also have the authority to request relevant information from an "information source", where they hold relevant records that are not held in the archive. In the limited circumstances where records may not be available, the Bill allows for affidavits to be sought at the application stage.

Where relevant, a formal offer of payment will issue to an applicant and he or she will have six months to accept or reject the offer. Applicants will also have the right to request a review of the determination and an independent appeal. The period of six months will give applicants enough time to avail of independent legal advice on the legal waiver. The waiver will only be signed at the point where the applicant accepts an offer of a payment under the scheme in order that the applicant will have full knowledge of what they are being offered prior to signing. It is the intention to make a capped amount of financial support available to applicants for the purposes of obtaining independent legal advice. A contribution to legal costs will also be provided in cases where an applicant makes an affidavit to apply to the scheme.

Applicants who were resident in a relevant institution for a minimum of six months will be eligible for a form of enhanced medical card. The card will enable the holder to access the services specified in the Bill free of charge. Applicants who are deemed eligible for a medical card but live outside of the State may opt to receive a once-off payment of €3,000 instead of the card.

The Bill provides that a person can apply on behalf of a relevant person in specified circumstances. An application may also be made for a general payment and-or work-related payment on behalf of a person who would have been eligible to apply but has died since the date of the State apology, that is, since 13 January 2021.

Part 4 contains provisions on a range of ancillary matters. These include: the power to make regulations; the power to prescribe a person as an information source where the person holds relevant records; the power of those administering the scheme to process personal data and special categories of personal data for the purposes of fulfilling functions set out in the Bill; a prohibition on the disclosure of confidential information by those administering the scheme; and the service of documents and penalties. In addition, it provides that general payments and work-related payments made under the scheme are exempt from income tax and capital gains and capital acquisitions tax. Part 4 also provides for the carrying out of a review of the operation of the scheme after two years and again at the end of the scheme. It also provides that an additional institution may be added to the Schedule of eligible institutions by way of a ministerial order.

I reiterate my appreciation to survivors and their families for their ongoing patience as Government continues to work through these complex issues. Recognising the importance of delivering this scheme for survivors, I hope to be able to bring the Bill swiftly through both Houses of the Oireachtas. In parallel with the legislation, the significant work required to establish the scheme is under way. I assure survivors that we are doing everything in our power to deliver this scheme as quickly as possible. Subject to the legislation being passed and enacted, and the administrative structures being established, the scheme will open for applications as soon as possible in 2023.

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