Roderic O'Gorman apologises for claiming children 'wouldn't remember' mother and baby home ordeals

Roderic O’Gorman yesterday said: "I suppose children who were in there less than six months wouldn't have been aware of their experiences and would have been too young to remember their experiences." Photo: Maxwells

Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman has apologised for claiming that children who spent less than six months in mother and baby homes "wouldn’t remember" their experiences.

Survivors have hit out at a mother and baby home redress scheme, which they say is "paltry, insulting and exclusionary" as payments will be based on the length of time mothers and children spent in institutions.

Special Rapporteur on Child Protection Conor O'Mahony said the way in which the scheme has been drafted means "some people are going to be left behind".

Children who were resident for less than six months in mother and baby homes will not be able to apply for any redress and the scheme will not take into account the time that children were boarded out.

Mr O'Gorman said he recognises that children born in homes would be "disappointed" with the six-month threshold. But he said survivors have indicated to him that the priority for them is access to their information and birth certs.

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When asked why some children have been left out of the scheme at a press conference announcing the redress package, the minister yesterday said: "I suppose children who were in there less than six months wouldn't have been aware of their experiences and would have been too young to remember their experiences."

When asked about this on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr O'Gorman said: "If I said that in the press conference yesterday that's a very inartful way of me to describe the experience and I apologise for that.

"We have used the criteria of time as a guide towards the degree of exposure that women and children had to the very harsh institutional conditions in the the mother and baby and county institutions," he said, adding that the scheme was designed to be as easy as possible to access.

Mr O'Gorman said a counselling scheme is being designed to support people who were boarded out, however, there are no current plans for a separate redress scheme for these people.