Number of mother and baby home survivors will have redress compensation reduced

Residents who spent more than six months in a hospital during their time at a mother and baby home will have their compensation amount reduced. Picture: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie

Mother and baby home survivors who spent more than six months in a hospital while resident in an institution will have their redress compensation reduced.

It comes as the payment scheme for mother and baby homes survivors opened on March 20.

The Department of Children told the Irish Examiner that as of April 7, some 919 complete applications have been received and are being processed.

More than 34,000 survivors are eligible for a payment while up to 24,000 will be excluded because adult adoptees who spent less than six months in a home, or were boarded out, do not qualify.

The legislation for the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, also states that survivors who spent time in hospitals exceeding 180 days will also receive a reduced payment.

Many of the children in the mother and baby homes suffered severe health problems due to poor treatment and rampant infections.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, former resident and campaigner, David Kinsella, 65 from Dublin said he will have his payments reduced because he had six lengthy hospital admissions during his time at St Patrick’s mother and baby home.

“It is very unfair, I was in hospital because of the cold environment and other aspects of malnutrition,” Mr Kinsella said.

That wasn’t my fault, the food surplus was low, the spread of infection was high especially vulnerable babies.

“There were many survivors hospitalised for malnutrition. My adoptive mother told me I was very thin, and they had to put mittens on my fingers I was constantly biting my fingers. I was thin and unwell,” he said.

Mr Kinsella was admitted to St Kevin’s hospital during his time in the mother and baby home where he was born in August 1958 and remained until he was adopted out in July 1962.

David Kinsella is one of the residents who will have his payments reduced because he had lengthy hospital admissions during his time at St Patrick's mother and baby home. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

During that time, he had six admissions and his medical records describe him as ill and said he received several vaccines.

“Medical records seem to suggest I was used in the vaccine trials. I was anointed and confirmed at four months old after receiving the BCG vaccination.

“I nearly died according to my records, I got the same vaccine twice for whooping cough,” he said.

“My adoptive mother worked on the infant’s medical ward in St Kevin’s at the time, and as a regular baby who was hospitalised, she recognised me being admitted and asked to adopt me,” he said.

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Without hospital admissions, Mr Kinsella believes he would receive around €35,000 to €40,000 in the redress scheme.

However, given his lengthy stays in hospital, one admission was around four months — he is expected to receive a reduced payment of around €25,000.

“This is totally despicable. I was in hospital because of the lack of care I received. The onus falls on the Church and State. I was sick because of them.

“Even a reputable gambling casino in Las Vegas wouldn’t penny pinch like that,” he said.

In a statement the Department of Children said: “Section 24 of the underpinning legislation for the Scheme provides for temporary absences to be included in the calculation of benefits under the Scheme as long as they do not exceed 180 days.

“This is to allow for exactly the type of situation described in this query eg stay(s) in a hospital. So, for example, if a baby was born in a scheduled institution but then was hospitalised before returning to the institution, all three periods will be included in the calculation of time spent in the institution.”