Minister will take 'specific proposals' on redress bill in 2022

Roderic O'Gorman defended the decision to block children who spent less than six months in mother and baby homes from the redress scheme

Children's Minister Roderick O'Gorman said the Government will be bringing forward legislation in the new year to support the establishment of a payment scheme.

Opposition parties will get an opportunity to bring forward changes to a much-criticised mother and baby homes redress scheme in the new year, Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman has said.

However, Mr O'Gorman has continued to defend the decision to block children who spent less than six months in these institutions from the scheme. Serious concerns have been raised by survivors and campaigners about a number of aspects of the scheme.

Mr O'Gorman told the Dáil that Government is an "imperfect vehicle for restitution of past wrongs" as it can "move slowly, often out of necessity, to deliberate, but at a time when those affected have already waited for far too long".

During a debate on a Sinn Féin motion to significantly change the recently announced scheme, Mr O'Gorman said the Government will be bringing forward legislation in the new year to support the establishment of a payment scheme and, during that time, TDs will have the opportunity to bring forward "specific proposals" in relation to redress.

Access to records

However, he maintained that the top priority of children who spent very short periods of time in institutions during their infancy is access to their personal records and birth certs and not access to the redress scheme.

He said this will delivered through the Birth Information and Tracing Bill.

"The legislation will provide guaranteed access to un-redacted birth certificates, as well as wider birth and early life information for those who have questions in relation to their origins," he said.

"This is the overwhelming priority need which has been expressed by people who as children were adopted or otherwise separated from their birth family." 

'No price can be put on trauma'

Sinn Féin children's spokeswoman Kathleen Funchion said there is no price that can be put on any of the trauma and abuse that mother and baby home survivors have suffered.

However, she said the State can "listen to the survivors and their families".

"People engaged with this process in good faith, again reliving their stories, which was not easy, and now it seems, again it was for nothing," she told the Dáil.

Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns said the Government's proposed scheme shows a "complete lack of empathy" towards survivors and said the scheme in its current format will be rejected by the public.