Government will contribute to cost of legal advice for redress scheme applicants

The compensation package for survivors of mother and baby homes, worth €800m, opened on Thursday and it is expected that around 35,000 people will make an application.

The Government will contribute towards the cost of legal advice for survivors of mother and baby homes, before they agree to sign any waiver form, as part of the redress scheme.

The compensation package for survivors, worth €800m, opened on Thursday and it is expected that around 35,000 people will make an application.

The legal waiver form, which was received under Freedom of Information, outlines what the requirements are should a survivor agree to receive compensation.

Signing it means no further action can ever be taken in relation to a survivor’s time in the mother and baby homes.

Survivors who wish to get legal advice on the matter will be eligible for some reimbursement from the Government.

In a statement to the Irish Examiner, a spokesperson for the Department of Children said: “Anyone wishing to avail of legal advice prior to signing this waiver will be entitled to support towards the cost of legal fees incurred, up to a maximum of €500 (excluding Vat) per application.

“This will be reimbursed by the Payment Scheme Office once the applicant provides an invoice or receipt from their solicitor”.

Legal waiver 

The terms of the waiver include that the survivor will waive any right of action against a public body that arises out of the circumstances to which their application to the mother and baby redress scheme relates.

They will agree to “immediately discontinue” any other proceedings against any public body.

The applicant or person applying on behalf of the applicant must confirm they are aware of the implications of signing the form.

Daniel Loftus, 20, whose mother was born in the former Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork, said he applied for the form under FOI when he saw other survivors looking for it.

“I saw some people online who were wondering about the waiver form,” he told the Irish Examiner. “It is not in the application form online and one person contacted the people dealing with the payment scheme directly and didn’t get a satisfactory response.

“I went through Freedom of Information within the Department of Children, and they gave it to me in a few hours. I wanted to let others be aware of it.”

The Department of children said: "It is important to note that the legal waiver for this scheme will be signed only when the applicant already knows exactly what they are being offered from the scheme, allowing them to make a fully informed decision.

“Where a person decides to accept a general or work-related payment award, they will be asked to sign a waiver.

“This legal waiver states that the person will not bring any legal proceedings and will discontinue proceedings already commenced (if any) against a public body that relate to the circumstances which were the subject of their application.

“Signing a waiver will not mean that survivors cannot discuss their experience of engaging with the scheme or the payment they may have received. They are free to do this should they so wish.

“A waiver is a common feature of ex-gratia schemes. Part of the logic for this is that a person accepting an award under an ex-gratia scheme usually benefits from less burdensome procedures than those used in the courts, does not risk incurring high legal fees if their case is not successful, and has a greater likelihood of success than they would have if they brought a case to court."