'All mother and baby home survivors should be included in payments,' campaigners say

The site of the former Magdalene Laundry on Stanhope Street in Dublin. Picture: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie

All survivors of mother and baby homes should receive a flat common experience payment but should also be able to apply for an assessed injuries payment of up to €300,000, campaigners say.

Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman had invited the public to give their views on a proposed redress scheme, and submissions were received from more than 250 individuals and groups.

Several groups have called on the minister to include survivors of all institutions in the scheme and not just those who spent time in the limited number of homes that were reviewed by the commission.

Universal payment

The call for a universal payment for anyone who spent time in any institution related to maternity care between 1922 and 1998 and a second common experience payment for all subjected to coercive family separation over the same period has been made by four leading academics ahead of a Government redress scheme.

"Both common experience payments should, at a minimum, be €10,000 per payment, as specified in the Quirke report on the ex-gratia scheme for Magdalene Laundries," Mairead Enright, James Gallen, Kevin Hearty and Maeve O'Rourke said in their submission.

They recommended that applicants should also be able to apply for an independent assessment, recognising additional injuries suffered, with payments ranging between €50,000 and €300,000.

The @clann_project Recommendations on the Government’s proposed ‘Restorative Recognition Scheme’ are available here: https://t.co/xNZIzD2C0Q pic.twitter.com/S7YNiTIINv

— Clann Project (@clann_project) March 31, 2021

The Clann Project, which assisted people to give testimony to the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Inquiry, said any redress scheme should extend beyond the 18 institutions investigated and, where people have died, their next-of-kin should be allowed to apply to the scheme.

They also strongly argued that survivors should not be gagged, adding that the restorative recognition scheme should not under any circumstances have a waiver of legal rights as a condition of receiving a payment.

"Many survivors will not pursue litigation following an application to the scheme. There are many obstacles to litigating ‘historical’ abuse and survivors’ personal preferences will vary. 

"However, the presence of a waiver disproportionately harms every applicant scheme, and the general public, in addition to harming most obviously those who may have wished to litigate but felt obliged to take the scheme payment," the Clann Project said.

Documentary evidence

Pointing to the experience of Magdalene survivors, the group said there should be no absolute requirement for documentary evidence and testimony must be permitted to ground an application in the absence of records for any redress scheme.

"In addition, applicants to the scheme must be provided with independent advocacy assistance and legal assistance to safeguard their rights and to enable them to provide their best evidence, the group said.

Separately, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) expressed concern around access to the scheme and said a human rights-based approach to addressing historical abuse is of the utmost importance.

"It is of significant concern to ICCL that there is no mention of human rights in the Government’s statement on the final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission and 22 point action plan," its submission stated.

It also called for a wider independent investigation into all individuals, agencies and bodies that were involved in the abuse of mothers and children and, particularly, in the system of illegal and forced adoptions in Ireland in the 20th century.