Topics / Mother and Baby Homes

A subject heading for parliamentary questions

Mother and Baby Homes

184 questions from 48 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 13 October 2026.

184
questions
181 written, 3 oral
48
TDs have asked
10
parties and groups
Independents counted together
4
departments asked

Questions per month

The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.

Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
MonthQuestions
January 20259
February 202521
March 202535
April 202516
May 20257
June 20254
July 202511
August 20250
September 20257
October 20251
November 20252
December 20253
January 20266
February 20266
March 202618
April 202615
May 202613
June 20268
July 20260
August 20260
September 20261
October 20261

Who asks, by party

The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.

  • Aontú2 from 1 TD · 2 seats today
  • Fianna Fáil25 from 11 TDs · 48 seats today
  • Fine Gael13 from 5 TDs · 38 seats today
  • Green Party3 from 1 TD · 1 seat today
  • Independent16 from 3 TDs · 15 seats today
  • Independent Ireland1 from 1 TD · 4 seats today
  • Labour Party33 from 3 TDs · 11 seats today
  • People Before Profit-Solidarity11 from 2 TDs · 3 seats today
  • Sinn Féin67 from 15 TDs · 39 seats today

The TDs who asked most

Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.

  1. 24
  2. 19
  3. 12
  4. 12
  5. 10
  6. 7
  7. 7
  8. 6

Asked of

Debated under the same heading

Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.

The questions

Sinéad Gibney Written 29 Apr 2026 · to Children
238. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will advocate for Irish citizens living in the UK, who are survivors of the mother and baby institutions and who have been taken off their financial benefits having accepted redress compensation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31265/26]
Claire Kerrane Oral 23 Apr 2026 · to Children
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]
Claire Kerrane Oral 23 Apr 2026 · to Children
127. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of applications made to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme to date in 2026; the number processed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28748/26]
Barry Ward Written 21 Apr 2026 · to Children
663. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, the mechanisms that are in place, in relation to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, to ensure fairness is applied in the case whereby siblings were separated and one was moved to and continues to live in another country; if all siblings entitled to the same leve…
Claire Kerrane Written 21 Apr 2026 · to Children
703. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total amount spent since January 2024 on a service (details supplied) the third party contracted external provider of phone and application services for the mother and baby payments scheme [28560/26]
Claire Kerrane Written 21 Apr 2026 · to Children
704. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of new applicants per week since January 2026 to the mother and baby redress scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28561/26]
Claire Kerrane Written 21 Apr 2026 · to Children
705. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of eligible applicants per institution listed for redress; and the number of actual applicants per institution to date. [28562/26]
Claire Kerrane Written 21 Apr 2026 · to Children
706. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the percentage take up of applicants for Protestant and Catholic institutions for the mother and baby redress scheme. [28563/26]
Richard Boyd Barrett Written 21 Apr 2026 · to Children
707. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the percentage for the take up of applicants for Protestant as compared to Catholic institutions, for those institutions currently eligible, for the mother and baby institutional redress scheme. [28578/26]
Richard Boyd Barrett Written 21 Apr 2026 · to Children
708. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the Government will review the exclusion of those children who spent less than 180 days in institutions for the mother and baby institutional redress scheme. [28579/26]
Richard Boyd Barrett Written 21 Apr 2026 · to Children
709. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the Government will introduce a financial redress scheme for children boarded out via all institutional settings. [28581/26]
Richard Boyd Barrett Written 21 Apr 2026 · to Health
715. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health when the Government will set up the patient liaison service (health supports) for survivors of institutional abuse as committed to in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby County Home Institutions Third Implementation Report (details supplied). [28582/26]
Ivana Bacik Written 14 Apr 2026 · to Children
2569. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will report on efforts to track and trace to inform relatives of children lost in the Bessboro Mother And Baby Home records found related to tandem burials for St Finbarr's hospital in St. Michael's cemetery associated with the "home" that operated until 1998 and mentioned in the Commission's report; and her plans to trace and in…
Albert Dolan Written 26 Mar 2026 · to Children
427. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current status of Recommendation 38 of the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, which proposed the creation of a number of research scholarships in memory of the children who died in these institutions; whether an application process for these scholarships has begun or is planned; if any eligib…
Darren O'Rourke Written 24 Mar 2026 · to Education
508. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth if people who spent time as a baby in an industrial school are entitled to the same compensation as people who spent time in a mother and baby home; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21811/26]
John Lahart Written 19 Mar 2026 · to Children
389. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will acknowledge that while it has been stated that legislation prevents the release of records relating to mother and baby homes, the relevant legislation was previously amended through the Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters) Records Act 2020 to allow adopted persons and mothers access …
John Lahart Written 19 Mar 2026 · to Children
390. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality given that the Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters) Records Act 2020 was previously amended to allow adopted persons and mothers access to information relating to themselves, if she accepts that this demonstrates that the legislative framework governing the archive can be amended where necessary…
John Lahart Written 19 Mar 2026 · to Children
391. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has received legal advice indicating that the wider mother and baby homes archive cannot be released even where personal data and identifying information are redacted; if she will outline the legal basis for the continued sealing of the archive for 30 years; if she will confirm whether alternative approaches, inclu…
Ivana Bacik Written 18 Mar 2026 · to Children
1475. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will report on his meetings with survivor groups since his intervention at the 2025 Bessborough Commemoration; her plans to meet with other survivor groups; and if she has made representations to Cork City Council in respect of the Bessborough site, and public acquisition of the site, in particular. [20768/26]
John Paul O'Shea Written 18 Mar 2026 · to Children
1476. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been brought to the proposed commercial development at the former Bessborough mother and baby home site in Cork; if she has engaged with the owners or Cork City Council regarding the future of the site; and if she will outline the steps the Government is taking to ensure the site is treated with appropriate sen…
John Paul O'Shea Written 18 Mar 2026 · to Children
1477. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if consideration has been given to the preservation, memorialisation, or public commemoration of the Bessborough site, in consultation with survivors and advocacy groups; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20866/26]
Donna McGettigan Written 18 Mar 2026 · to Children
1551. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to reverse the decision to seal the records relating to the mother and baby homes and release them; to fully investigate and, if necessary, excavate the Angels' Plot burial ground at Sean Ross Abbey to find the remains of babies and young girls currently unaccounted for; to reform the redress scheme so survivors are judged by what …
Aengus Ó Snodaigh Written 18 Mar 2026 · to Children
1571. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to reports that a number of Government Departments are withholding archives from the National Centre for Research and Remembrance for survivors of mother and baby homes; the steps her Department and the Mother and Baby Homes section within her Department has taken to ensure all records are made avai…
Conor Sheehan Written 18 Mar 2026 · to Children
1579. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in light of a person (details supplied) suggesting that due to the current mother and baby home redress scheme being so poorly subscribed, there is an opportunity to include survivors who were boarded out and currently remain without financial redress, the measures she will take to address this anomaly; and if she will make a statemen…
Albert Dolan Written 18 Mar 2026 · to Children
1636. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason for the refusal of an application to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme (details supplied); the reason incomplete or deficient historical records are being relied upon as grounds for exclusion despite acknowledged issues with the accuracy of such records; to set out the review or independent appeal mechanism tha…