Louth Fianna Fáil Senator and Seanad Spokesperson on Children, Disability, Equality and Integration, Senator Erin McGreehan, has welcomed the Government’s approval of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme (MBIPS). However Senator McGreehan called on the Catholic Church to pay their fair share in the Mother and Baby homes redress scheme.
The Scheme will provide financial payments and a form of enhanced medical card to defined groups in acknowledgment of suffering experienced while resident in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions. It is estimated that approximately 34,000 people will qualify for financial payments under the Scheme.
It is anticipated that approximately 19,000 people will be eligible for an enhanced medical card. The total cost of the Scheme is estimated at approximately €800m.
Senator McGreehan commented, “The report completed by the Commission of Investigation was disappointing and its findings upset many people. The proposals for the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme go well beyond the recommendations of the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation. This clearly shows how the Minister and the Government have listened very carefully to all stakeholders, taking into consideration all opinions. It is this collaborative approach that has been to the core of all Government actions to date and I am under no doubt that this attitude will continue.
“This redress scheme is a further step in acknowledging the serious wrongs that were done onto so many women and children in this country.”
Senator McGreehan added, “However the Church now needs to pay their fair share. It is important that they acknowledge the wrong and pay financially for the wrongs that they did, let’s not forget that the religious organisations got paid to run these institutions.
“The women and children deserve acknowledgment from the Church institutions in this.”