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

I want to express my appreciation to the Seanad for arranging this debate further to the discussions we had in the Dáil Chamber last Tuesday and Thursday. I reiterate my appreciation of the keen interest many Members of the Oireachtas have shown in this important issue. The matters we are discussing are not easy to discuss but it is imperative we do so because survivors have waited a long time for an adequate response to the pain and suffering they have endured. I know they appreciate the support of Deputies and Senators and their attention to these matters.

As I have previously stated , the Government understands that there is no financial or service provision which could make up for what has been endured by so many people whose lives have been affected by the legacy of these institutions. The shameful way that some of our most vulnerable women and children were treated in mother and baby institutions across the country has rightly caused an outcry. Every day we learn more about the shocking treatment endured and how the effects of it continue to ripple through families today. Every family has been touched in some way. We witness the pain that is felt so deeply by those who have not been able to access information about their own origins, or 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 their country cast them aside when they needed help and compassion. The only acceptable response to this legacy has to be holistic and wide-ranging. This is what the Government has committed to in its action plan for survivors and former residents of mother and baby and county home institutions. Following the State apology last January for the profound intergenerational wrong visited upon mothers and their children in these institutions, significant progress has been made on a number of the actions in the action plan. While we know there can never be enough put in place to make up for the decades of failure, the action plan represents the Government's sincere attempt to provide a remedy for the significant grief and anguish that exists.

The plan encompasses 22 actions. I stress that the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, while hugely important and the most significant scheme of its type in the history of the State, is just one element of the plan. Consultation with survivors, including the consultation facilitated by OAK Consulting on developing proposals for the scheme, has consistently shown that all measures included in the plan are vitally important to survivors and their families.

It is important to note that action 2 provided counselling support for all former residents. That has been in place since before the publication of the commission's report. The service has been strengthened with additional investment and an expanded out-of-hours service. Work has also commenced under action 19 on establishing a patient advocacy liaison service for all survivors and I expect that to be in place next year. The Department of Health is working with the Health Research Board, again under action 19, on a research project as part of The Irish LongituDinal Study on Ageing, TILDA, to identify the health needs of survivors. This research will inform health policy and service provision.

The Government has published the general scheme of a birth information and tracing Bill, which is currently the subject of pre-legislative scrutiny. The proposed legislation will provide guaranteed access to an unredacted birth certificate and birth information for adopted people, persons whose births were illegally registered and other persons who have questions in relation to their origins. It will also address access to records containing birth and early life information, provide a statutory basis for tracing services and provide for safeguarding of relevant records. Consultation with survivors has shown that access to this information is the overwhelming priority need which has been expressed by people who as children were adopted or otherwise separated from their birth family.

In relation to institutional burials legislation and action 22, the Oireachtas joint committee submitted its report on its pre-legislative scrutiny of this Bill in July and my Department is carefully reviewing its recommendations. I hope to advance this legislation as quickly as possible to allow excavation of the site in Tuam to begin in 2022.

Action 18 will see the creation of a children's fund to honour the memory of children who died in mother and baby institutions, through the provision of supports to children who experience disadvantage in the present day. We have also committed to creating a national memorial and records centre and to memorialisation initiatives at local level, as well as the ongoing administration of a commemorative grant scheme in my Department to support survivor-centred advocacy groups in organising commemorative events.

Actions 11 to 14 focus on education and research. A number of education and research initiatives are also in train through the Department of Education, such as the consideration of how best to support schools in enabling students to learn about and understand this important and sensitive aspect of Ireland's recent history. The Government has created a number of postgraduate scholarships in partnership with the Irish Research Council in memory of the children who died in the institutions. These scholarships will cover research in the area of childhood disadvantage. My Department has commissioned a team based in NUI Galway to conduct research on language, terminology and representation, which aims to highlight the stigmatising and labelling language that has been used in the past and to provide guidance on how to do better in future.

Action 5 of the action plan allows for general data protection regulation, GDPR, right of access to commission records. My Department has ensured that resources are in place to deal with subject access requests, SARs, in relation to the commission's archive. We have already replied to over 300 survivor requests for access to this information. I am aware that current constraints on access to health data contained in the commission's archive is causing distress to survivors. I have engaged with the Minister for Health on this issue and he is now progressing new regulations that will allow for full access. In the interim, there is an alternative option to receiving health data under GDPR. My Department is advising applicants of the option to apply under freedom of information, FOI, to seek access to their health data and is providing support to survivors on this ground. This is to ensure that requestors are made aware of all the options to access their health data and to provide data to requestors more quickly.

Action 8 of the action plan contains a commitment to enabling public access to original State files. I have established a dedicated unit within my Department to lead on this work. Through action 10, the Government has provided for the appointment of a dedicated archivist based in my Department to focus on the preservation of and public access to these essential records.

Action 20 of the plan is the mother and baby institutions payment scheme. Through the OAK-Ied consultation process and from my many engagements with survivors, they have made it clear they want a scheme that is non-adversarial, simple and based on trust. The requirement for a low burden of proof was also a key issue raised. This is what the mother and baby institutions payment scheme seeks to deliver in providing a general payment based on time spent in these institutions. The scheme will provide a financial payment to all mothers who spent time in one of the institutions. It will also provide a financial payment to those who were resident as children in one of the institutions for more than six months. The payment is in recognition of the harsh conditions, emotional abuse and other forms of mistreatment, stigma and trauma experienced while resident there. The scheme will provide an enhanced medical card to mothers and children who were in one of the institutions for more than six months. These measures will benefit approximately 34,000 individuals to the value of €800 million. In doing this, the scheme goes beyond both the recommendations of the commission of investigation and the proposals of the interdepartmental group which was established to develop proposals for the scheme. In moving beyond the broad redress measures included in the action plan, the Government has included proposals in the scheme to ensure that women who spent time in these institutions after 1974 are included, that all children who spent more than six months in one of the institutions, regardless of whether they were accompanied or unaccompanied, can gain access to a financial payment and that all women, regardless of the time spent in an institution, will be able to access a financial payment.

While all the work ongoing as part of the action plan is significant, I understand that there is a particular sense of urgency associated with the payment scheme. The Government is committed to delivering the scheme as soon as possible and my Department is preparing a general scheme of a Bill as a matter of urgency. In tandem, work is taking place to make arrangements to establish the executive office within my Department to administer the scheme once the legislation has been passed by the Oireachtas, in order that the scheme can begin accepting applications as soon as possible.I have committed to prioritising the applications of survivors who are most elderly and other survivors who are particularly vulnerable.

I would like to thank this House for its time this evening to debate this important matter. I hope to have the opportunity to respond to some of the points made by Senators at the end. I want to conclude by reiterating our appreciation to survivors, to their families and to their advocacy groups for their ongoing patience as Government continues to work through addressing these complex issues.