Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 April 2024
1111. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reason he excluded the Cherry Orchard Hospital and other hospitals from the redress scheme; if he will reconsider these exclusions with respect to the fact some babies born in qualifying mother and baby homes were hospitalised after birth for several months before returning to an institution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14323/24]
View answerThe institutions covered by this Payment Scheme are those identified by the Commission of Investigation as having a main function of providing sheltered and supervised ante and post-natal facilities to single mothers and their children.
Hospitals were not investigated by the Commission of Investigation because they were not institutions that provided ante and post-natal facilities to single mothers and their children. For this reason hospitals are not included in this Payment Scheme.
For further information I refer the Deputy to Chapter 2 of the Social History section of the Commission of Investigation report which details the different types of institutions that existed and whether or not they could be classified as Mother and Baby Homes - www.gov.ie/en/publication/89e43-chapter-2-institutions/.
Section 24 of the underpinning legislation provides for temporary absences to be included in the calculation of benefits under the Scheme as long as they do not exceed 180 days. This is to allow for exactly the type of situation the Deputy describes e.g. a stay in a hospital. So, if a baby was born in a scheduled institution but then was hospitalised before returning to the institution, all three periods will be included in the calculation of time spent in the institution.
