Detail of Mother and Baby Homes redress scheme to be brought to Cabinet

Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration Roderic O'Gorman arrives at Dublin Castle for a cabinet meeting.

Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman hopes to bring details of a redress scheme for mother and baby home survivors to Cabinet in the next two weeks.

Mr O'Gorman is also working on the terms of an independent review of the evidence given to the Commission's confidential committee which he also hopes to get sign off on before the summer break.

It had initially been promised that a redress scheme would be announced by the end of May, however, Department of Children officials are still hammering out the details to ensure it is easy to access for survivors.

Mr O'Gorman has also indicated that he will consider an alternative expert review due to be published on Wednesday which rejects many of the recommendations contained in the Executive Summary of the Commission's report.

The review carried out by 25 academics and legal experts found that residents of mother and baby homes were subjected to involuntary detention, forced labour and illegal adoption.

The review has also found that the "Commission used a narrow account of Irish legal history to excuse the abuses detailed across the Report".

Meanwhile, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is expected to tell the Oireachtas Children's Committee that “free and unfettered" access to personal information is essential for survivors of mother and baby homes.

"To deny this could in itself be re-traumatising, particularly for older survivors, and so the burden on you as legislators to shape this pivotal law effectively is a heavy one," chief commission Sinéad Gibney is due to say in her opening statement.

"It is also important for the State approach to recognise that while this legislation must vindicate rights to truth denied to so many for so long, there is a corollary that there are birth mothers who have been living under a cloud, as inquiries, debates and now legislation happens, fearful that undisclosed information would be revealed, and so it is important to be mindful of all, she will say.

The Committee is currently scrutinising the Information and Tracing Bill which would allow adoptees access personal documents including their birth certs.

Ms Gibney will tell the Committee that people seeking access to records have already suffered delays, often of many years, and so the legislation should mark a "sea-change" in approach.

"The Commission, therefore, recommends that statutory timeframes for compliance with information requests should be set out, and also recommends that this legislation establishes a system for the management of records across agencies and locations that ensures that significant delays are avoided."

Members of the Data Protection Commission are also due to give their view on the legislation and are expected to raise concerns that the proposals outlined in the draft Bill may "heavily impede" on the data protection rights of a birth parent.

In submissions made to the Committee, the Commission states that "whilst it is noted that the rights at play are not absolute, it is worth restating that in order to be compliant with data protection rules, the proposals as set out in this draft Bill which involve the processing of personal data need to be applied in a proportionate manner and demonstrate they are not overly prejudicial to the fundamental right of the individual to data protection."