Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Picking up on something the Deputy said earlier, the Government is putting in place a scheme to compensate people who were residents of mother and baby homes, despite the fact that nobody has found any legal liability attached to the State in that regard. There was no question of court cases, legal strategies or any of those things. The Government decided it was the right thing to do to have a compensation scheme in this, regardless of any points of law. A commission of investigation was established and it recommended a redress scheme. There was also an interdepartmental group which recommended a redress scheme. The Government decided to go beyond that and set up a more generous and far-reaching scheme than was recommended by an independent body, and that should be recognised. I know the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, will comment on this later.

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