Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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288. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the Mother and Baby Institutions payment scheme will be extended to those who spent less than the prescribed time period of six months in an institution given that many persons have been excluded from the scheme on this basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52490/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In answering this question, it is important to note that the Scheme is one element of a comprehensive package of support measures agreed by the Government to respond to the priority needs of survivors and former residents as part of the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions.

Following intense deliberations on what are very complex issues, the proposals developed for the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme went beyond the recommendations of the Commission of Investigation. The Scheme will stand in recognition of time spent, harsh conditions, emotional abuse and all other forms of harm, mistreatment, stigma and trauma experienced while resident in a Mother and Baby or County Home Institution. The graduated payment rates under the Scheme proportionately acknowledge the more prolonged experience of harsh institutional conditions which were endured by those who spent longer periods of time in these institutions.

In relation to children who spent less than six months in an institution and who were adopted or otherwise separated from their birth family, the overwhelming priority need which has been expressed, through extensive engagement with those concerned, is access to records. So for those children who spent short periods of time in an institution during their infancy, the Action Plan provides a response to their needs in the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 and the investment which has been made available to support implementation of this legislation. The legislation provides guaranteed access to birth certificates, as well as wider birth and early life information for those who have questions in relation to their origins. It also supports contact and family reunion, where that is the wish of both parties, by means of the new statutory tracing service and Contact Preference Register.

It should also be underlined that free counselling support has been in place since before the publication of the Commission’s report, through the National Counselling Service in the HSE. This is free of charge, includes out of hours support and those who identify themselves as survivors of the institutions are prioritised for the next available counselling space. Counselling support is also being provided to survivors, former residents and adopted persons by Barnardos, Tusla and AAI under the auspices of the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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289. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in relation to the Mother and Baby Institutions payment scheme if it is open to persons to challenge the Commission's interpretation of specific named institutions; and if so, if the process will be outlined. [52491/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Government does not wish to disregard or diminish any person’s experience and recognises that there are people who suffered stigma, trauma and abuse in other institutions and outside of institutions who will not qualify for the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme.

The Commission found that the named Mother and Baby Homes were ‘unquestionably the main such homes that existed during the 20th century in terms of the function they fulfilled with regard to single women and their children. They all received State funding to a greater or lesser degree and the State was directly responsible for establishing a number of them.’

If it were to come to light that an institution fulfilled a similar function with regard to single women and their children as the Mother and Baby Home Institutions and the State had a regulatory or inspection function, section 43 of the recently published draft Bill enables the Minister to insert an additional institution into the Schedule. This will allow a person to make an application in respect of time spent as a relevant person in that additional institution. Section 15 then provides a related provision in allowing for an applicant to submit a second application in a case where they were also resident in an institution that has been added to the Schedule.