Government approves proposals for Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme and publishes An Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions

The Payment Scheme will provide financial payments and an enhanced medical card to defined groups in acknowledgement of suffering experienced while resident in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions.
Some 34,000 survivors will be eligible for financial payment, at an estimated cost of €800m. In terms of estimated number of beneficiaries, the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is the largest scheme of its type in the history of the State. The Payment Scheme is informed by a detailed consultation with survivor groups, with input from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, and adopts a holistic and non-adversarial approach to the provision of payments and benefits.
The Payment Scheme will be legislated for and will open for applications in late 2022.
Action Plan is a strategic framework to drive collaboration and implementation of the 22 measures agreed by Government to respond to the priority needs of survivors and former residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions.

The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, T.D., has today published An Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions and details of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme.

The Action Plan outlines the Government’s response to the legacy of Mother and Baby Institutions, and supports the implementation of commitments made by the Government in January 2021 to respond to the priority needs and concerns of those who spent time in those institutions.

A fundamental element of the Government’s response is a commitment to establish an ex-gratia payment scheme, and the Minister has today announced proposals 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, increasing based on their length of stay.
All children who spent six months or more in an institution, and did not receive redress for that institution under the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (RIRS), 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 six 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.

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 in lieu of the card as a contribution towards their individual health needs.

The legislation required to establish the Scheme will be developed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth as a matter of priority. This legislation will facilitate the establishment of an independent Executive Office, situated within the Department, to administer the Scheme. The Minister wants the Scheme to open for applications as soon as possible in 2022.

The Government has recognised that any Scheme for financial recognition must be developed and designed in meaningful consultation with survivors and their representatives. For this reason, the proposals announced today were informed by a comprehensive public consultation process that sought the views of survivors and interested parties on what should be included. They have been further informed by the lessons which have been learned by the State in its administration of previous similar schemes.

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.

A further major element of the Action Plan will be the creation of a National Memorial and Records Centre. This will be progressed by a Group chaired by the Secretary General to the Government. The group will develop an overarching vision and proposed approach for the creation of the National Centre which will then be brought to Government for approval. Ring-fenced funding will be made available for the research, stakeholder consultation, expert technical analysis and underlying records management work which will be central to the success of this initiative.

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

“The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is a wide scheme which will benefit 34,000 survivors to the value of €800 million. It encompasses but also extends well beyond the recommendations of the Commission of Investigation. It represents a significant milestone in the State’s acknowledgment of its past failures and of the needless suffering experienced by so many of its citizens.

“I want to thank the survivors and their families who participated in the consultation process for the Scheme, both in Ireland and abroad. The depth of feeling shone through and is reflected in the proposals published today.

“The consultation process on the Scheme also illuminated more clearly than ever that redress is a broad concept that means a range of things to people. For some it is an apology and memorialisation, while for others it lies in access to records or opportunities to avail of support. The Government is committed to delivering substantial responses in all these areas.

“We are progressing legislation to enable access to birth certificates and early life information, and to allow for interventions at the site in Tuam. As the Action Plan outlines, work is also advancing on national and local memorialisation, including the National Memorial and Records Centre, and my Department has also opened the Commission’s Archive to ensure that survivors of Mother and Baby Institutions can access their records.

“There is no payment or measure that can ever fully compensate or atone for the harm done through the Mother and Baby Institutions. What we have set out today is the next chapter in the State’s response to the legacy of those institutions, and its commitment to rebuilding the trust it so grievously shattered.”

For more information on the proposals for the Scheme, see:

Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme

Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Questions and Answers

Report of the Interdepartmental Group (IDG) on the development of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme (November 2021)

OAK Report of the findings of the Consultation with Survivors of Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes

To access the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions, click here.

ENDS

Notes to the Editor:

The Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters was published on 12th January 2021. In responding to the report, the Government committed to developing a comprehensive Government Action Plan spanning eight themes, as follows:

> A survivor-centred approach

> Apology

> Access to Personal Information

> Archiving and Databases

> Education and Research

> Memorialisation

> Restorative Recognition

> Dignified Burial

The Government is advancing a wide range of actions under these themes.

The Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions provides a framework for collaboration across Government, State agencies, and broader society to implement the suite of 22 agreed measures across the eight themes. For each action, the plan identifies milestones and timelines, and sets out progress to date and next steps. It also sets out an overarching vision, mission and values, as well as governance and monitoring processes to oversee progress.
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.
In terms of Restorative Recognition, an Interdepartmental Group (IDG) was established and tasked with the development of detailed and costed proposals for a “Restorative Recognition Scheme” which would entail two broad dimensions:

> Provide payments which take account of the recommendations of the Commission relating to redress, but which may not be solely limited to those recommendations.

> Provide a form of enhanced medical card to everyone who was resident in a Mother and Baby or County Home Institution for a period of six months or more.

Payments made under the Scheme would be based on residency and the following payment levels:

Time Spent in a Mother and Baby or County Home Institution	General Payment for mothers and children (€)	Work Payment (for mothers who qualify only) (€)	Total Amount if qualifying for general payment and work payment (€)
Less than 3 months (mothers only)	5,000	0	5,000
Between 3 and 6 months (mothers only)	10,000	1,500	11,500
Between 6 months and 1 Year	12,500	3,000	15,500
1 - 2 Years	15,000	6,000	21,000
2 – 3 Years	20,000	12,000	32,000
3 - 4 Years	25,000	18,000	43,000
4 – 5 Years	30,000	24,000	54,000
5 – 6 Years	40,000	30,000	70,000
6 – 7 Years	45,000	36,000	81,000
7 – 8 Years	50,000	42,000	92,000
8 – 9 Years	55,000	48,000	103,000
9 – 10 Years	60,000	54,000	114,000
10 Years + (MAX)	65,000	60,000	125,000

The IDG was chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the Group met on six occasions in the course of its work. The following Departments and bodies were also represented on the IDG at official level: Department of Education; Department of Health; Department of Public Expenditure and Reform; Department of the Taoiseach; Office of the Attorney General; and State Claims Agency.
To support the work of the IDG and in keeping with the commitment to adopting a survivor-centred approach, a public consultation process on the design of the Scheme was undertaken. This consultation took place in the months of March and April and there was a very strong response with approximately 450 written submissions received and 17 online meetings held. The input from those who spent time as mothers and children in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions were invaluable to the Group in developing its proposals.
In addition, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), as the national human rights institution and national equality body, was requested by Minister O’Gorman to make its independent expertise available to assist the IDG. IHREC provided an advisory paper and engaged with the Group to discuss the contents of its paper in more detail.

Speech by Minister O'Gorman at launch of Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme and Action Plan

Information in relation to Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions