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

Today, the Government wants to pass through the Dáil legislation establishing the mother and baby homes redress scheme, this despite the fact the scheme shamefully excludes children who spent less than six months in a mother and baby institution or a county home. As a consequence, 24,000 survivors will be left behind by the Government’s proposed scheme.

It is scandalous that this exclusionary, discriminatory provision remains in the legislation. The scheme creates a hierarchy of victims by taking the view that some mothers and their children suffered less than others. The very idea that a child who spent less than six months in a home suffered no damage or injury and is not entitled to redress is just unacceptable. The Government is saying that these children did not spend long enough in a home to suffer trauma from being forcibly separated from their mother. That is wrong. For a child taken from their mother against her will, the trauma was and is the act of separation itself - a trauma that lasts a lifetime.

This happened on the watch of the State and there must be redress for that injustice. The proposed scheme is a botched scheme. It does not meet the needs of survivors in an equal and fair way. It is not just Sinn Féin saying this; concerns have been raised by the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, by the UN Special Rapporteur and by the UN Human Rights Committee.

No matter how long a child spent in one of these places and no matter what age they were when they left, they suffered greatly and their trauma is real. No arbitrary six-month line drawn by the Government changes this reality. Is mór an náire é scéim an Rialtais. Is iomaí duine a tháinig slán ó na hárais mháithreacha agus naíonán atá fágtha amach ón gcúiteamh. Ní mór an scéim a athrú ionas go mbeidh gach marthanóir san áireamh. Is é seo an rud ceart a dhéanamh. The survivors of mother and baby homes have shown remarkable resilience and dignity in the face of great adversity. If it was not for their courage and bravery, there would have been no commission of investigation, no State apology and no redress scheme whatsoever to speak of. The scheme that comes before the House today is an insult to those survivors and the hard road they have walked. They have walked that road together. They have not separated or divided. They have not left anybody behind, and they will not allow the Government to do so now.

This week we heard from many survivors on the radio. We heard from Jean and Eamon. They both spent less than six months in a home and they say this scheme makes them feel irrelevant. More importantly, it suggests that their separation from their mother did not matter. That is the human impact of this legislation. The Opposition has engaged in good faith in order to try to get the changes needed for a redress scheme that is just, but the Minister is not listening. Somebody needs to listen now and that somebody must be the Taoiseach. I ask him, as Head of Government, to intervene and drop this discriminatory six-month rule. I ask him to bring forward a scheme that truly meets the needs of survivors in a fair and equal way. These women and their families have had to fight the State every step of the way; they should not have to fight any longer.

See this speech in context