Mother and babies homes information sealed for 30 years

The Clann Project have given a reply to the proposed Redress Scheme below

Statement

Clann Project statement, 16th November 2021

Last night, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, emailed 

stakeholders that he would bring to Cabinet today proposals for an ‘Action Plan for Survivors and Former 

Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions’ and a ‘costed proposal for a Payment Scheme’.

The Clann Project will wait to comment on Minister O’Gorman’s proposals until we have had an opportunity to 

examine the documents in detail. 

The government must learn from the failings of the Magdalene Laundries ex gratia scheme, as expressed so 

eloquently by the survivors who participated in the Dublin Honours Magdalenes Listening Exercise.

This scheme must be inclusive. The State must depart from previous habits of excluding and compartmentalising 

affected people. Nobody can be left behind.

This week, the High Court will hear two test cases which are being brought by Mary Harney and Philomena Lee. 

Both women are challenging the procedures and findings of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of 

Investigation. An inaccurate official historical record is not only insulting to those who have suffered grave abuse; 

it denies the most basic element of a remedy, which is acknowledgement of the truth. It further impedes 

memorialisation, education, and efforts to ensure institutional reform and non-repetition of similar abuse in future. 

Therefore, as part of its redress scheme, the government should attach a statement to the Commission of 

Investigation report, clarifying that the government has not accepted the Commission’s findings due to 

grave concerns regarding its methods.

If the scheme is to represent a true measure of justice, it must include the following (as explained in our detailed 

recommendations to Government):

1. Access to records 

2. HAA Medical Card

3. Recommendations regarding the compensation process in a ‘Restorative Recognition Scheme’

4. Implementation of the Mother and Baby Homes Collaborative Forum Recommendations

5. Explicit rights for people adopted overseas, including citizenship rights

6. Proper implementation of EU GDPR rights

7. Access to court

8. Dedicated Criminal Justice Unit & Human Rights-Compliant Coroner’s Inquests into the disappearance of 

thousands of children and hundreds of women

9. Repeal of ‘gagging’ orders

10. Amendment of the Status of Children Act 1987

11. Repudiation of the Commission of Investigation Report and official acknowledgement of human rights 

violations

12. No requirement to waive the right to take further legal action

For further information, please see:

1. The Clann Project recommendations on the Restorative Recognition Scheme

2. The Clann Project joint submissions on GDPR to the Oireachtas Justice Committee

3. The Clann Project submissions on the birth information and tracing bill

4. The Clann Project joint submissions on the Institutional Burials Bill

They have to include some sort of limit. At the extreme, should someone who was in a Home for a day be included? The Minister is being attacked no matter what he does.

You may be right that there were no babies buried in the septic chambers and only a full excavation of the sites and analysis of the remains will prove if they're from famine times or not. Delaying the excavation doesn't stop people looking for answers about what really happened, and it's very strange that nothing was done in the years since this was first highlighted - trying to keep this secret or covered-up is just wrong.

No burial records exist for 796 babies in Tuam and 859 in Bessborough and both congregations of nuns said they dont know where all those children are buried. Maybe they are being truthful, maybe only a small number of children were buried in the homes graveyards and maybe the remains found are indeed famine victims but if that's the case, then it raises more questions, ie. were the missing children illegally sold abroad and was the state involved by issuing travel documents? Or, is the number of falsified birth certs reported by Tusla completely inaccurate if all those missing children were given to couples who illegally registered the child as their own? Either way, the religious congregations know what happened and it's unacceptable that nothing has been examined from those sites. The state needs to do whatever is needed now as many of the mothers affected by this are our older citizens and time is crucial.

On tonight's Prime Time they covered the omission of children who were boarded out to work as farm hands etc from the Redress Scheme. Really heartless of ROG to exclude these children.

They suffered unbelievable abuse and cruelty and deserve to be included.

It can only be concluded that ROG is an establishment puppet and is obeying what his Civil Servants tell him to do because it is inconceivable that he is unaware of the effects this abuse has had on them.

It seems the main driver in excluding so many children from the Redress Scheme Is money. The attitude seems to be let's give the minimum amount we can get away with, which would also explain why so many other homes and institutions were left out of the Reports terms of reference.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/minister-reveals-24000-mother-and-baby-homes-survivors-excluded-from-redress-scheme-41066964.html

I feel I must add something to this debate. I understood a thouragh investigation took place with as many county homes included as was possible.

Separately I began to research my own family background a few months ago, not initially related to the mother and babies enquiry, more a personal search.

I made contact with Tusla and initial engagement very poor from them. This changed about a month ago when I received an offer to search for records etc. To my absolute astonishment, I learned a Home I was in for 17 years , overseen by a former health board and run by a religious order apparently didn't exist, in the sense Tusla have no records of the Childrens home. It would seem this is nothing new.

Whilst my search initially had nothing to do with the mother and babies issue, it would now appear, I along with potentially 1000''s of former residents in state care have in essence no record of existence or indeed a record of their time in state care.

To put this in context, the home was made up of 3 distinct units, one being the main convent , the other 2, individual childrens homes. Astonishingly one of the units does appear in various reports including the infamous Murphy Report but my house, features nowhere, ironically both houses still exist under now different auspices.

In essence, when these homes closed in 1998, absolutely no records passed on or potentially were not kept by the religious order. It then begs the question how many former residents of state care are not being accounted for with regard to redress.

I stress my motivation is not redress as it may not even be relevant, I'm purely looking for records, anything on my 17 years in state care, information it would seem the state may not have. Whilst I do have a number of brothers and sisters, I've never met any of them, let alone parents.

Sick making.

Very true, equally not all children ended up in what are termed mother and baby homes or county homes, thousands of children for unknown reasons ended up in children's homes were either records don't exist or orders of nuns have not shared records. I'm one of those children, now an adult (54) & spent near 16 years in a children's home and have absolutely no record or information on my birth family to include brothers and sisters. It's like trying to find hens teeth when seeking information and this despite poor record keeping, older health boards actually over saw these children's homes.