Mother and baby home survivors won't be gagged under redress scheme

Minister for Children Roderic O Gorman has yet to contact the pharmaceutical companies involved in vaccine trials conducted in mother and baby homes. File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The survivors of mother and baby homes will not be gagged as part of a forthcoming redress scheme, the Children's Minister has promised.

Speaking in the Seanad, Roderic O'Gorman said local authorities should also apologise to the survivors of mother and baby homes.

Mr O'Gorman said local authorities were "intrinsically involved" in the management and payment of fees to these homes and pointed to the fact that Galway County Council held meetings in the Tuam home.

His department will be bringing forward proposals on a restorative recognition scheme by the end of April and committed to ensure the mistakes of the past were not repeated.

There has been criticism around the fact that those who received payments under previous redress schemes, including people who suffered abuse in industrial schools, had to sign waivers.

When we set up the restorative recognition scheme, and we are working on that at the moment, we have to be very conscious of the mistakes that have been made in the past as regards design.

"The issue of the gagging order has been highlighted by a number of senators. I'll go back and look at that and see how we can avoid mistakes like like that being being being made in the future," he said.

The minister was responding to Senator Victor Boyhan, who said many institutions were excluded from the work of the report.

"Anyone who was in care and was subject to, or should have been under some sort of supervision by the State must get redress," he said.

Whatever redress scheme the minister agrees, I ask him not to issue gagging orders to people to prevent them talking afterwards. That is not fair, right or proper."

Mr O'Gorman said he had yet to contact GlaxoSmithKline, which was involved in  vaccine trials carried out in mother and baby homes.

A number of senators hit out at the conclusions made by the Commission of Investigation and the language used in the report, with Regina Doherty calling it "cold" and "callous".

Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan said survivors had been "gaslighted" as the commission "tells them what they knew happened to them didn't happen".

The minister said women had "absolutely no choice" in giving their babies up for adoption.

Mr O'Gorman said survivors have "already waited too long for justice to be done" and many are "of an age where they need to see immediate action". He said legislation on information and tracing would be ready by the end of March or early April.