Galway East Sinn Féin’s Louis O’Hara has described the proposed Mother and Baby Home redress scheme as “mean-spirited and insulting to survivors”.
O’Hara said that children who spent less than six months in a home after being stolen from their mothers are not entitled to any redress or an enhanced medical card, while mothers have been told that their suffering could only be worth €5,000.
“This six-month rule is totally arbitrary as every minute spent in these awful places was a minute too long, and it does not reflect the fact that it only took the religious orders a moment to make a decision that would fundamentally affect the entire future of a young child.
“It is essential that the religious orders who played a key role in the running of these institutions, shady adoptions and the unexplained deaths in Tuam are held accountable for their actions.”
He said that they must be required to make a substantial contribution towards the costs of the scheme and the Government needs to be more proactive in securing this.
“It is not good enough that the Minister for Children has only recently written to religious institutions requesting a contribution.
“The Government must now engage with survivors without delay and amend this scheme to ensure that it delivers adequate redress to all survivors.”
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