Elaine Loughlin: Not every institution is being made pay for past mistakes

A levy for mica crisis — and rightly so — but redress scheme for mother and baby homes leaves a lot to be desired 

In Ireland, not all sinners are equal, and neither are those who have been sinned against.

The Government has rightly insisted that a levy be introduced to ensure that industry pays towards the remediation of thousands of family homes destroyed by mica and other building defects.

But when it comes to powerful institutions that subjected families to forced separations, stigmatised unmarried mothers, allowed babies to undergo medical experiments, and emotionally abused vulnerable women, no such levy is being considered.

A mica protest outside Leinster House in June. Picture: Stephen Collins/ Collins Photos

The Government has determined that some must pay for past mistakes, while others can decide what, if any, contribution is made towards righting a dark and shameful chapter in this country’s history.

After a backbench revolt, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe last week partially climbed down on the concrete levy and halved the amount to be collected from 10% to 5%.

The tax became a consuming issue at parliamentary party meetings and separate discussions were held between backbenchers and Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.

The watering down of the controversial levy, which will go towards paying for a €2.2bn mica redress scheme, was seen as a victory for those mainly in Fianna Fáil who had lashed out strongly against the budget measure.

But in retaining a lower levy, Mr Donohoe was adamant that industry would have to contribute towards the cost of rebuilding defective homes and the State simply wouldn’t be footing the bill.

Meanwhile, a Dáil debate on another redress scheme being set up for mother and baby homes survivors failed to get members of the Government quite as exercised as the concrete levy.

In fact, during two hours of discussion on the proposed scheme, which campaigners say is deeply flawed and unfair in so many aspects, just two members of Government spoke — the Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman and Disabilities Minister Anne Rabbitte.

Where are all those TDs who threatened to resign over mica redress now?

The matter left Independent TD Sean Canney slightly baffled when he spoke on the motion brought forward by Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns.

“We have had a lot of discussion in the last couple of weeks since the budget was announced around a levy on the construction industry to pay for the sins of people and of quarries that had the bad materials that caused mica or pyrite issues.

“However, we are not talking about a levy on anybody to try to pay for the redress scheme that is coming, and it is important that we would look at that.”

While the Mother and Baby Home Commission found that 13 vaccine trials took place between 1922 and 1998, seven of which were conducted in the institutions covered under investigation, the final report effectively exonerated the pharmaceutical companies. Despite a lack of compliance with the relevant regulatory and ethical standards of the time around consent the report found “no evidence of injury to the children involved as a result of the vaccines”.

In the wake of the publication of the report, Mr O’Gorman last year asked GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to consider “reparations”, which the pharma giant said it would not be doing and that matter was left at that.

During his Dáil contribution last week, Mr Canney said the minister would “get full support from across the House if a levy was put on the pharma industry to make sure it paid something towards what happened in the past”.

That would be more palatable than putting a levy on blocks and concrete at this time.

When this was put to the Department of Children by the Irish Examiner, a spokesperson said that “in the first instance, the imposition of any levy or tax requires careful consideration and agreement by Government”.

“The concrete levy is a levy on concrete and concrete products and so it is difficult to see how this approach could be applied to individual organisations or companies as proposed by the Deputy,” the spokesperson said.

Instead of imposing a fine or levy on the religious orders that ran mother and baby homes, this Government has taken the same approach as adopted by his predecessors in relation to other schemes and has gone cap and hand to the church gates.

More than a year after the parameters of the redress scheme were announced, the seven orders involved have yet to agree to pay anything towards what will be a €800m scheme which Mr O’Gorman hopes to have up and running early in the new year.

A spokesperson stressed that engagement with religious congregations is ongoing, and the Government believes that all relevant parties have a “collective responsibility” to respond to Ireland’s legacy in relation to the mother and baby institutions.

But again, the State is ceding power to the Church to decide the cost of this collective responsible.

Teddies and toys along with flowers sit at the ‘Little Angels’ memorial plot in the grounds of Bessborough House in Cork. Picture: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie

As Ms Cairns last week told the Dáil: “On paper, the Government looks like it is taking a different approach from that of its predecessors. It has introduced the Birth Information and Tracing Act and the Institutional Burials Act. From its press releases, it looks good.

“However, once you dig only a little deeper, it is clear it is just as committed to putting barriers in the way of justice and accountability and abetting those responsible.”

The Government has decided to pick its battles and demanding on - and legislating for - reparations from the construction industry appears to be a whole lot easier than making the same demands of religious congregations

Survivors of mother and baby homes, who endured emotional, physical and phycological trauma, were never afforded that luxury.

Did you know?

• Making new laws is one of the main tasks of the Oireachtas.
• A draft of a proposed new law is called a bill. Once a bill is signed into law by the President, it becomes an act and is added to the statute book.
• The Oireachtas passes approximately 40 acts each year.
• So far this year, the President has signed 31 bills into law including the Sick Leave Act, the Institutional Burials Act and the Electoral Reform Act.

This week in years gone by

1973

Oct 27: On a front page that could have been published today, it was reported that consumers were facing price increases in “cars, carpets, four and flour confectionary, margarine, tinned foods and furniture”. 

A separate story revealed that power supply was on a “tightrope” and the ESB was appealing to the public for co-operation in keeping the use of electricity down to a minimum until November 24.

1982

Oct 29: Labour leader Michael O’Leary resigned from both the leadership and membership of the party. 

The stunning announcement took his party colleagues completely by surprise and when the Cork Examiner broke the news to chairman Michael D Higgins, he retorted: “I am shocked and astonished”.

1990

Oct 31: Faced with a Progressive Democrats threat to collapse the Government, then taoiseach Charlie Haughey was forced to sack his “friend of 30 years” Brian Lenihan. 

The Cork Examiner reported that the Tánaiste’s dismissal was greeted by “shock and outrage by the party faithful around the country with strong talk of resignation from the party”.

1997

Oct 30: Mary McAleese was elected President. The front page of the Examiner also covered a meeting of what was described as the taoiseach’s mistress and the president’s wife. “It happened in Dublin Castle last night when Hillary Rodham Clinton was greeted by Celia Larkin — and still life goes on,” wrote TP O’Mahony.

2010

Oct 26: Then Seanad leader Donnie Cassidy said it was “not easy” for senators with families to get by on €65,000 a year. He suggested there was a “race to the bottom” in terms of cutting politicians’ pay and pointed out that senators earned much less than judges. A decade later he became involved in controversy again as the organiser of the now infamous Golfgate event.

Hot topics

Mac attack: Drama ensued at the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting last week when it was announced that Marc MacSharry wouldn’t be readmitted after a complaint was made against him by a councillor. Since then, the Sligo TD has lodged a complaint with party headquarters claiming his reputation has been damaged and he was not given due process. All eyes will be on Wednesday’s meeting to see what happens next.

Concrete proposals: Following the watering down of a new concrete levy aimed at covering some of the costs of the mica redress scheme, the Finance Committee will hear from department officials as well as the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland on the issue.

Ukrainian crisis: Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman was forced to close the Citywest reception hub to new refugees late last week as it reached capacity and the Government now expects to have a shortfall of 15,000 beds by December. In this context, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will examine spending on direct provision and emergency accommodation.