Amendment to mother and baby homes legislation 'inappropriate'

Labour senator Ivana Bacik said 'it is inappropriate and very disappointing to see a completely different issue being addressed in this legislation'. Picture: Collins Courts

An amendment to the mother and baby homes legislation to speed up the adoption of guidelines on insurance payouts has been described as "inappropriate".

Senators and TDs have criticised the Government for adding the amendment to such 'emotive' legislation.

"This extension should have been provided for in separate legislation," said Labour senator Ivana Bacik.

The amendment to the Judicial Council Act 2019, added to section six of the Mother and Baby Home Records Bill, states that the Government "adopt draft personal injuries guidelines prepared and submitted to the Board (of the Judicial Council)... as soon as practicable after such submission but not later than 31 July 2021".

New rules to set out the amount of damages courts can award for personal injuries will be introduced three months earlier than planned, and due to the expedited process, Ms Justice Mary Irvine, in charge of drafting the report on the issue, has been granted a six-week extension to finalise it.

A letter to the justice committee from Minister Helen McEntee, seen by the Irish Examiner, states: "The Government is committed to bringing down insurance premiums and the cost of insurance overall. The personal injuries guidelines will be a key part of achieving that goal. I hope that accelerating the timeframe for their introduction shows how serious we are about keeping our commitments to reduce insurance costs.

"That’s why we are acceding to the request of the chairperson of the personal injuries guidelines committee, Ms Justice Mary Irvine, for a short extension to the timeframe for the submission of the draft guidelines to the Board of the Judicial Council."

The Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters) Records Bill 2020 is at the second stage in the Seanad after bypassing pre-legislative scrutiny.

The bill has been at the centre of a scandal for the last week as the records and testimonies of survivors of abuse at the hands of those who ran the homes, conducted during the commission, will be sealed for 30 years after the 4,000-page commission report is provided to the Government and the custody of records is transferred to Tusla.

The sealing of records has incensed survivors who say it will prevent them from knowing minor details, including their birth name, and will not allow the public full access to the historical records.

Multiple amendments have been tabled by opposition parties to try and secure the right to access information for survivors of the homes and their families.

Children's Minister Roderic O’Gorman has denied the commission’s records will be put “beyond reach”.

Ms Bacik said: "The Mother and Baby Homes Records Bill is legislation about which we have real concerns; we have opposed it being rushed through the Seanad.

It’s inappropriate and very disappointing to see a completely different issue being addressed in this legislation; it is bad legislative practice

Likewise, Sinn Féin senator Lynn Boylan said the Government "has created a situation whereby a judge's reputation to fulfil her duties is predicated on a deeply unpopular bill passing".

"A bill that will see survivors of mother and baby homes denied access to their own documents, to their own lived experiences. This bill has retraumatised many survivors and inserting this amendment into the bill only adds salt to the wounds."

Independent senator Alice Mary Higgins said the addition of such amendments stalls wider debate on the issue itself.

"For instance, the Judicial Council amendment, when a bill is opened up, it would be a chance to not just respond to the minister's issues, but debate can allow representatives to add new issues around the Judicial Council that they feel should be investigated. We're not hearing those perspectives, an opportunity is lost for debate, it doesn't allow for wider issues to be added into the bill or to be addressed."

A Department of Justice spokesperson said: "The need for enactment of the amendments at the very earliest opportunity, mindful of the proximity of the deadline in question, gave rise to the insertion of the matter in the Commission of Inquiry Bill, which itself is required to be enacted in the short term."