Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming here to take this Commencement matter. It relates to Westbank orphanage in Greystones, County Wicklow. I have raised the need for the Minister to explore all options to provide supports and redress for the survivors affected and by persons who availed of its services. This organisation is very well known. This matter has been well documented on current affairs programmes on RTÉ radio and television. Everyone shakes their head and says it is all shocking. You meet people in here day in, day out with so many of these stories. They are all saying it is all terrible yet they are in the heart of power in the corridors of power here and suddenly they are helpless to do anything. It is an extraordinary situation that I find myself in here as an advocate very regularly advocating around these organisations.

I think everyone here will appreciate there is a need to understand and make sense of what happened in anyone’s past, but particularly in relation to Westbank orphanage. Many children came from Northern Ireland into this establishment. There is also a need to learn from the past. We all must learn from the past so that similar things would never happen again as they did in Westbank. There is also the call for collective solidarity which is really important. The former residents of Westbank talk of a desire for justice, compensation and redress. Later we will discuss all those issues in the context of the legislation to wrap up Caranua and put in place some educational and health supports. That is for later. However, unfortunately Westbank is excluded from that.

For context I will read very briefly from a letter that was addressed to the then Taoiseach, Simon Harris on Monday, 8 April 2024 which I subsequently forwarded to Deputy Roderic O'Gorman who wrote back saying it was not a matter for him but rather Deputy Norma Foley as the then Minister for Education. The letter reads:

Congratulations on your election as Taoiseach, scheduled for tomorrow.

I rang your office on Tuesday last (2 April). I was asked to write to you to explain the injustice of denial of redress to residents of Westbank orphanage. [...]

In 2018, Minister Katherine Zappone invited nr to join Collaborative Forum, to advise on compensations arrangements for former mother and baby home residents. I continued in that capacity to advise current minister Roderic O'Gorman.

The Minister's compensation scheme made me ineligible for compensation. I will not even get an 'enhanced' medical card, though that is of little benefit where I live in Armagh. [...]

The Mother and Baby Home Commission of Inquiry (MBHCI) recognised the injustice of denial of redress to Westbank residents. The MBHCI twice called on the government to grant redress to Westbank residents. - The Commission's 2nd Interim Report (2016) stated (section 5.14) that Westbank "should have been included in the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme."

- The MBHCI's ... Final Report [in 2020, not that long ago] emphatically restated this position. It said that Westbank was "unfairly excluded from" the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme.

On behalf of the Westbank residents, as a conduit and a voice for them, I am calling on the Government to reopen the situation. I believe they have a strong case. I have reviewed all the files in relation to this matter. I have sought external advice. There may be other options that will have to be triggered in the coming days if there is not a favourable response from the Government on the final requests that have been made in the past few days. The Minister of State might be able to enlighten us today on what reliefs or alternatives could be available for the past residents of Westbank.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I am grateful to Senator Boyhan for raising this important issue. To clarify for the Chamber, before I get to the specifics, as Senator Boyhan will appreciate, the mother and baby institutions payment scheme opened for applications in March 2024. It provides payments and health benefits to people who spent time in any of the mother and baby or county home institutions that were identified by the mother and baby homes commission of investigation. As Senator Boyhan knows, a large part of my work as Minister of State with responsibility for the diaspora has been working with those survivors of institutional abuse, particularly in Great Britain and a not insignificant number in North America as well, who we have been desperately trying to get into the scheme. They are absolutely people who deserve the attention that for so long they did not get.

The institutions covered by the payment scheme are set out in Schedule 1 to the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023. As the Senator has laid out, Westbank orphanage, which was previously known as the Protestant home for orphan and destitute girls, or the Harold's Cross orphanage, was not investigated by the commission of investigation because it operated primarily as a residential children's home rather than as an institution providing ante- and post-natal facilities. In its second interim report, the commission outlined that Westbank orphanage may have been unfairly excluded from the residential institutions redress scheme, administered by the Department of Education and Youth. It did not consider that it would be appropriate to include Westbank in its terms of reference. The report states, “Westbank was not generally regarded as a mother and baby home but rather as an orphanage.” Chapter 2 of the social history section of the commission of investigation report details the different types of institutions that existed and whether they could be considered mother and baby institutions. Westbank orphanage is listed as a residential children's home. For this reason, it is not included in the mother and baby institutions payment scheme.

The proposals for the payment scheme were developed following extensive deliberations on the very complex issues in question. They were informed by consultation with survivors, as well as the recommendations of the commission of investigation and an interdepartmental working group. The Government ultimately decided on a scheme which is, in overall terms, significantly broader than those recommended by the commission.

The Government recognises there are people who suffered stigma, trauma and abuse in other institutions. If it were to come to light that an institution in respect of which the State had a regulatory or inspection function fulfilled a similar function with regard to single women and their children as those included in the payment scheme, section 49 of the Act provides that the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, may insert an additional institution into the Schedule.

I believe the opportunity that lies before us this morning is to continue the process the Senator started to right what is an historical injustice, particularly in relation to the Westbank home. I give my personal commitment to Senator Boyhan, on the floor of this Chamber, that we will take this forward together, engage with the line Minister and get this included. That is only right and just. I will play my full part in everything that is required to make that happen. I will ensure the Tánaiste will also do so, and he has asked me to convey that to the Senator here on the floor of the House.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. The one line that jumps off the page in his official written response is that the Westbank was not generally regarded as a mother and baby home but, rather, as an orphanage. What is the difference? Abuse is abuse. Emotional abuse, physical abuse or sexual abuse in any setting, whether in a State school, this building or anywhere else, is not acceptable and justice has to be done at the end of the day. I welcome and will take up the Minister of State's invitation to collaborate and work together to see what we can do.

I was speaking to a person yesterday about this matter who made the poignant observation that rising above the weight of the past is not easy; the past continually elbows its way back into the present. Escaping the memories of horrific abuse is a journey with many turns and indeed many setbacks. The people of Westbank want justice and they want an acknowledgement that what they said and are continuing to say is true. They want to be believed. It is incumbent on us, particularly later today, not to pass the buck but, rather, to take our responsibility seriously and engage with the Minister of State and other Ministers. For us to come in here and keep saying we can do nothing is simply not on. I thank the Minister of State for his time.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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As of 8 June more than 6,500 applications had been received for the payment scheme. More than 5,200 payments had been processed and completed or were in the process of being made. More than 5,800 notices of termination had issued applicants, over 82% of which contained an offer of benefits. The value of financial payments to date is more than €65 million, a not insignificant amount of money but, in the context of what went on for decades and decades, no amount could be put on it.

As I pointed out, section 49 of the Act provides the Minister with a clear opportunity to add an additional institution based on the advocacy and the determination received. That is the opportunity for Westbank. It is an opportunity that needs to be realised. I thank Senator Boyhan for raising the matter today.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State.