2026-04-23

With the permission of the House we will revert to Question No. 120 in the name of Deputy Claire Kerrane. Is that agreed? Agreed.

120. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will include additional institutions to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28696/26]

I want to ask the Minister about the landmark High Court ruling made in February of this year. It specifically examined two institutions, Temple Hill and St. Joseph's, that are excluded from the mother and baby institutions payment scheme. The judge at that time directed the Minister to consider adding these institutions to the scheme and I would like to seek an update on that direction please.

I thank the Deputy. As she will be aware, the mother and baby homes institutions payment scheme provides payments and health benefits to people who spent time in any of the mother and baby, or county home, institutions. These were institutions that were identified by the mother and baby homes commission of investigation as having a main function of providing sheltered and supervised ante- and post-natal facilities to single mothers and their children. The institutions covered by the payment scheme are set out in Schedule 1 of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023. Chapter 2 of the social history section of the commission of investigation detailed the different types of institutions that existed and whether they could be considered mother and baby institutions. While the 2023 Act lists all of the mother and baby institutions identified by the commission, section 49 of the Act further provides that, if it were to come to light that an institution in which the State had a regulatory or inspection function fulfilled a similar function with regard to single women and their children as those included in the payment scheme, the then Minister, with the consent of the Minister for public expenditure, may insert an additional institution into the schedule. The Government recognises there are people who suffered stigma, trauma and abuse in other institutions. It should be noted that the payment scheme is just one of a large suite of actions being undertaken to respond to the legacy of these institutions under the action plan for survivors and former residents of mother and baby and county home institutions. The current programme for Government has underlined a continued commitment to its ongoing delivery. Of the seven major commitments set out in the action plan, six are now delivered and in place while the seventh is actually under way. Key initiatives in the plan include access to birth information, the services of a special advocate and counselling support, which are all already in place, as well as the ongoing development of a national centre for research and remembrance. The Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022, which commenced in October 2022, has seen more than 17,700 applications for information completed to date since services opened. The Institutional Burials Act 2022 and the establishment in 2023 of an independent office under the Act led the intervention at the site of the former mother and baby institution at Tuam. The Deputy is aware that work is under way there. There has been the appointment in 2024 of a special advocate for survivors, the provision of counselling services and out of hours counselling for survivors, and the administration of a commemorative grant scheme for survivors who wish to hold events.

The Minister will no doubt acknowledge the ruling of the court and the views and comments made, most especially by Judge Alexander Owens about the exclusion of the institutions, particularly of Temple Hill and St. Joseph's, because they were the cases brought before him by survivors of both institutions. I have raised the case of Michael Grant in this Chamber and in committee many times. He spent the first year of his life in Temple Hill. He was a healthy child and his mother paid rent for him to remain there for the first year of his life before he was fostered. Temple Hill appears to have been identified as a hospital. I do not know of any hospital in the State where you pay rent to keep a child. I think that is an omission and that is the ruling and the finding of the judge who considered both Temple Hill and St. Joseph's so carefully. The Minister mentioned a shelter for children. That is exactly what Temple Hill was for Michael Grant. Will the Minister give me any information about the direction she has been given?

Specifically, in relation to the case, I acknowledge that the Department of children is responsible for overseeing the administration of the mother and baby institutions payment scheme and it must do so in line with the legislative scope and the intent of the Mother and Baby and Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023 as enacted by the Oireachtas. There has been considerable consideration of the legal advice that has been rendered. The Deputy is correct in seeking two institutions to be added to the scheme but I am obliged to take the advice of the Attorney General. The advice is unequivocal on the need for an appeal of the High Court and recognising that as a necessity. The reason is the grave degree of uncertainty generated by the judgment in terms of the interpretation of the Act and the related scope and parameters of the scheme. In a very detailed and comprehensive judgment, the State's position on a number of relevant matters was agreed with but there was also an indication there had been an error in law in one issue.

I acknowledge a review is coming up. I understand the review is quite niche but I hope the Minister might be able to confirm that the review towards the end of this year will look at the institutions. The special advocate who has been put in place to do a job has been clear in seeking the urgent expansion of this scheme. Having met Michael Grant and his daughter Rachel, my genuine fear is that he may not live to see such an expansion to institutions like Temple Hill. There are other survivors in that situation as well. We need to do right by them. Will the upcoming review look at institutions that are excluded and will it look at exclusions to the scheme as is?

I do not at all take away from the individual cases the Deputy referenced. I have to say in sincerity that I am obliged to accept the legal advice presented by the Attorney General and the legal teams. The legal advice that I have received is quite categoric in that it proposes that the decision as it stands would create a number of significant unintended difficulties. That is the clear-cut legal advice. In terms of the scheme in general, more than 7,000 applications have been received and 6,500 notices of determination have been issued. Over €78 million has been paid out. Approximately 2,800 people have qualified for health benefits. The scheme is open for five years until March 2029. I acknowledge as well the UK Government's recent announcement on disregards they will allow when people who are in the UK are being assessed for social welfare benefits in the UK. We want to see more people applying for this scheme. To date, over €1.8 million has been spent on advertising. The Deputy is correct that there will be a review before the end of the year. It is very much meant to be a technical review.