Government approves the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill

• the Payment Scheme will provide financial payments and an enhanced medical card in acknowledgement of suffering experienced while resident in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions
• some 34,000 survivors will be eligible for financial payments and 19,000 will be eligible for an enhanced medical card under the Scheme, at an estimated cost of €800 million. It will be the largest scheme of its kind in the history of the State in terms of the numbers expected to benefit
• the Payment Scheme will open for applications as soon as possible in 2023 following the enactment of the legislation

The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, has today secured government approval for the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill. The Bill provides the legislative basis for the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme.

The Payment Scheme will operate as follows:

• all mothers who spent time in a Mother and Baby Institution will be eligible for a payment, with the amount increasing based on their length of stay
• all children who spent 6 months or more in an institution will be eligible for payment based on their length of stay
• there will also be an additional, work-related payment for women who were resident in certain institutions for more than three months and who undertook what might be termed commercial work
• an enhanced medical card will be available to everybody who was resident in a Mother and Baby or County Home Institution for 6 months or more

It is expected that approximately 34,000 people will qualify for a financial payment under the Scheme, with 19,000 also qualifying for the enhanced medical card.

An important difference between the original rates approved by Government in November 2021 and the rates set out in the Bill today is that the Minister has improved the overall approach by introducing more refined payment bands. These more refined bands, which are defined by reference to days and are supplemented by additional quarterly rate bands, will serve to benefit applicants, particularly where they would have been at the upper end of a given annual band under the original proposals. They will smooth and narrow the gap between payment amounts for applicants, and increase fairness and transparency.

Another key improvement is that the Bill provides for periods of temporary absence of up to 180 days to be included when calculating the total duration of a person’s time in a relevant institution and their corresponding financial payment. Many mothers and children spent time outside the institution, for example as a result of a hospital stay relating to pregnancy, childbirth, illness or infectious disease. The Minister considered it important that a person’s period of residence (and associated payment) should not be reduced because of hospitalisation which may have been caused by harsh institutional conditions.

Applicants will qualify solely based on proof of residency, without a need to bring forward any evidence of abuse nor any medical evidence. In certain limited circumstances, sworn affidavits may be required.

Those survivors and former residents now living overseas will qualify for a payment on the same terms as individuals living in Ireland, and will have the choice to receive an enhanced medical card or a once-off payment of €3,000 in lieu of the card as a contribution towards their individual health needs.

This legislation will facilitate the establishment of an independent Executive Office, situated within the department, to administer the Scheme. The Scheme will open for applications as soon as possible in 2023, once the legislation is passed.

The Scheme will take a holistic and non-adversarial approach to ensure that survivors and former residents are not re-traumatised by their engagement with it.

On making today’s announcements, Minister O’Gorman said of the Scheme:

More information on the proposals for the Scheme.

Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions.

In November 2021, the government published an Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions to provide a meaningful response to the sad legacy of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions.

A total of 22 actions are being advanced under the Plan, including:

• a legal right to access to birth and early life information and tracing services
• financial recognition and access to support services
• education and further research
• dignified burials
• memorialisation

A centrepiece of the Plan is the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme and the Minister secured approval for the draft Bill today.

On 3 October applications opened for Information and Tracing services established under the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022, providing right of access to birth certificates, birth and early life information for all persons who were adopted, boarded out, the subject of an illegal birth registration or who otherwise have questions in relation to their origins.

The historic Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 was signed into law on 30 June. The first parts of the Act were commenced on 1 July with the establishment of the Contact Preference Register and the launch of a comprehensive Public Information Campaign. Comprehensive Birth Information and Tracing Services will begin from 3 October. This long awaited piece of legislation conclusively addresses the wrongful denial of people’s identity rights.

On 4 October, Government agreed to make an Order to establish an independent Office to oversee the excavation, recovery, analysis, identification (if possible) and re-interment of children’s remains at the site of the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam, Co. Galway under the Institutional Burials Act 2022. The making of the Order follows on from the enactment and commencement of the Institutional Burials Act 2022 in July and resolutions in the Dáil and Seanad last month approving the draft Order agreed by Government in July.

On 29 March, Government approved high-level proposals for a National Centre for Research and Remembrance on the site of a former Magdalen Laundry. This National Centre will honour equally all those who were resident in Mother and Baby Homes, Industrial Schools, Reformatories, Magdalen Laundries and related institutions. It will include a museum and exhibition spaces, a central repository of records related to institutional trauma and a research centre. It will also provide a dedicated place for solemn reflection and remembrance.

The government is deeply committed to responding to the needs and concerns of those who spent time in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions. This is with a view to recognising the failings of the past, providing survivor-centred supports, offering opportunities for reconciliation and healing, rebuilding trust, and, at the broadest level, promoting the development of a progressive, respectful and equal society. We are aware of the urgency of this work which is an absolute priority for the government.

To facilitate ongoing consultation with survivors and former residents in the design and delivery of all actions within the Action Plan, the Minister is finalising proposals for an enhanced model of engagement with survivors, former residents, their families, and their advocacy groups. He hopes to be able to bring these proposals to Government in the near future.