Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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172. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her views on the role of institutions run by Protestant denominations run institutions here; and her plans to examine legacy issues and issues of redress relating to same. [21624/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes made significant findings in relation to the failings of the State and religious organisations who ran Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions. The Government believes that all relevant parties have a collective responsibility to respond to Ireland's legacy in relation to these institutions and this includes bodies of Catholic and Protestant denomination. The State has accepted its own responsibility by apologising to survivors of these institutions and committing to a suite of measures to respond to their priority needs and concerns. These measures are set out in the Action Plan for Survivors, a cornerstone of which is the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme.

This Payment Scheme 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 having a main function of providing sheltered and supervised ante and post-natal facilities to single mothers and their children. The institutions covered by the Payment Scheme are set out in Schedule 1 to the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023 and include institutions such as Bethany and Denny House that were operated by Protestant organisations.

Chapter 2 of the Social History section of the Commission of Investigation report - www.gov.ie/en/publication/89e43-chapter-2-institutions/ - details the different types of institutions that existed and whether they could be considered Mother and Baby Institutions. The underlying assessment was conducted irrespective of the denomination of the operating institution.

If it were to come to light that any other institution, in 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, NDP Delivery and Reform, may insert an additional institution into the Schedule.

Government's Action Plan for Survivors, which responds to the legacy of Mother and Baby Institutions and the priority needs of survivors, continues to be advanced on a non-denominational basis. Of its seven major commitments, six are now delivered and in place, while the seventh is well underway. Key actions include access to birth information, the services of the Special Advocate and counselling support, all already in place, as well as the ongoing development of a National Centre for Research and Remembrance.