Mother and Baby home redress scheme is ‘airbrushing’ 24,000 children out of history, says Cairns

Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns has renewed her call on the Government to amend its proposed redress scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes after it emerged that 24,000 former residents will not be eligible for any payment.

Deputy Cairns made her comments after receiving a response to a parliamentary question she submitted to Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman.

“The Minister has now confirmed what we already suspected – out of the 38,500 children who spent time in a mother and baby institution, 24,000 survivors will not be entitled to apply for the Government’s redress scheme on the basis that they were there for less than six months.

“On those figures, more than 60 percent of children who spent time in a mother and baby home will not be eligible for redress.

“While the scheme is flawed in many respects, the exclusion of so many survivors is particularly egregious.”

Deputy Cairns says that the redress scheme wants to “airbrush” the experiences from history.

“All the evidence shows that the first six months of a child’s life has a major bearing on their early development.

“Of those who do qualify for the scheme, payments – starting from as little as €5,000 – will be solely based on the length of time spent in a home and will not take account of the litany of human rights abuses carried out at the hands of the State, religious orders and pharmaceutical companies.

“The figures provided by the Minister add insult to injury and expose the scale of injustice involved.”