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THE GOVERNMENT HAS been accused of “doublespeak” and “hypocrisy” in relation to its redress scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes.
Speaking in the Dáil during Leaders’ Questions this afternoon, independent TD Catherine Connolly was sharply critical of the Government’s approach.
She said it is “madness” to progress with “this divisive, discriminatory scheme”.
The redress scheme is set to be debated in the Dáil this evening ahead of a vote.
Around 34,000 people will be eligible to apply for redress under the scheme, which is estimated to cost around €800 million. However, some 24,000 survivors are excluded from the scheme.
Many survivors, legal experts and members of the Opposition have been very critical of the fact the scheme excludes people who spent less than six months in an institution as a child.
Connolly, who has advocated on behalf of survivors of institutional abuse for many years, said the Government has been “forced every step of the way to do something” by survivors and people such as Catherine Corless.
However, Varadkar said it then-Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone that resulted in the previous Government deciding to take action on excavating the site of a former mother and baby home in Tuam.
Varadkar said Zappone visited Tuam “looked in the tank”, “looked in the graves” and said “we need to be the Government that tried to do something about this”.
“I remember her her that day, in that Cabinet meeting, addressing that Cabinet meeting, almost breaking down in tears as she read out a poem that she wrote herself on that day, and it was that that convinced the Government to act,” the Taoiseach said.
Connolly also accused the Government of not learning anything from the failings of previous redress schemes for survivors of abuse in industrial schools and Magdalene laundries.
So here we are today left this evening pushing through legislation that’s discriminatory, divisive and utterly based on cost-containment measures.
Connolly told the Dáil the Government’s scheme is at odds with what survivors called for as part of a public consultation process regarding redress in 2021.
During the process carried out by Oak Consulting, most participants called for a common payment for all survivors and said that length of stay was not a fair criteria upon which to calculate the amount of compensation a person is eligible for.
The criteria most survivors asked to be taken into account when calculating redress included forced family separation, psychological trauma and harm, being subjected to vaccine experiments, a lack of vetting of families who adopted or fostered children, and physical harm and injury.
Connolly also noted that both national and international experts have called for the scheme to be extended, stating: “You have been implored by the High Court and by various international and national bodies, including the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission to learn and to base any redress on fairness and human rights.
“You are not doing that. At the very least today, tell us what was the justification for the six months if it wasn’t money? Please, at the very least, tell us that part and stop boasting that this is the best scheme.
She noted that the Mica redress scheme for homeowners – which could cost up to €4 billion – was brought in and “we haven’t battled an eyelid” about money. She questioned why the abuse of people’s human rights was not given the same weight.
Connolly said Ireland, for a century, had “an architecture of containment from start to finish, from which various classes of this society benefited”.
“How dare you or the commissioner or the commission have said [mothers] walked in there, or their families put them in there, that is complete nonsense and an utter ignoring of what happened in terms of the powerful and the powerless.”
In response, Varadkar said he didn’t accept Connolly’s “characterisation of what this Government or previous governments have done”.
“It’s this Government and the one before it that decided to deal with this issue, an issue that has been a scar in our society for many, many decades and many generations.
“And sadly, institutions such as these existed in other jurisdictions too – north of the border, for example, in other parts of Europe and the world.
We’re one of the few countries, to my knowledge, that has actually faced up to this past and has tried at least to do something to put things right.
Varadkar said the Government’s action plan goes well “well beyond financial redress” – noting the passage of the Institutional Burials Act and the Birth Information and Tracing Act last year.
Speaking about the redress scheme, he noted that it will cost the taxpayer €800 million, “€800 million that could otherwise be spent meeting the needs of today and trying to build a better future”.
“But we’ve decided that because of the wrongs that were done in the past, this is an appropriate amount of money to spend trying to put right the wrongs of the past at least in some way.
“And if we were only interested in cost-containment, Deputy, we would have just left these matters to the courts and that’s something we didn’t want to do…
“That’s why we decided to have a non-adversarial scheme of this nature, notwithstanding the cost,” Varadkar said.
He said he appreciates that Connolly feels “passionately” about the subject, but accused her of attacking him personally and demonising the Government.
“You criticise my character, attack me personally and misrepresent the Government.
“I think when it comes to politics, it’s in all of our interests that we don’t engage in, sort of, personalised criticism of each other where we question people’s character and motivations,” the Taoiseach said.
“I don’t think it’s right for you to try and demonise us in the way you’re trying to do now. It’s not right,” he added.
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Insipid Leo seems to have a selective memory, cervical check was a money saving measure that cost lives, the last redress scheme made those abused by this state his predecessors feel ashamed again after they were treated like sub-humans. Another money saving disgusting act.Now this scheme looks to put mothers and babies (some of who were sold) on a scale of pain. Tone deaf, no plan, no clue. The 3 personalities of Insipid Leo. Poor governance, crony led financial system, regressive tax system. Catherine Connolly has been on the receiving end of misogyny aimed from his own party. She speaks honestly, he couldn’t lay straight in bed. No leaders exist in Fine Gael and that’s why the country and they are stuck with him. Detached, disconnected and deficient.
@Epgenetics29 Declan Christy:Easy now . Everybody wants to demonise the present government for the sins of the past .This country: its taxpaywrs and governments inherited a mountain of wrongs but surely its a bit rich to expect that we in the current era can make financial restitution going back half a century and more .Take corporal punishment in schools for instance , helpless kids mainly boys were mercilessly beaten and have lived with the trauma all their lives
None of us can imagine the trauma that these people went through and no amount of monies will fix those problems. The State seems to think that the only solution is to pay off all of these victims and their families, when what, the victims want most, is Justice and accountability.
Justice is holding people to account by locking up those responsible and suing orgs, if necessary, out of existence.The State avoids responsibility by happily paying out compensation to make the problem go away but peace of mind, to those who need it the most, is always denied because the Govt refuse to pursue those who profited from their crimes. This unfortunately is becoming a common thread. Be it the ‘ Mica’ people, social media, Health care etc etc etc. I would love to see Justice for all of these people but by not holding the ‘ profiteers’ to account, we only ensure that it is going to happen again and again. The priority should be setting boundaries to make sure preferential treatment is given to the most vulnerable first and not their families.
When ” a poem convinces the Govt to act” you know you are on shaky ground.
@Barrycelona: Good to see someone thinking around the whole sorry saga instead of the usual knee jerk reaction .The reality is that people are desperate for justice but how can our present generation compensate everyone back half a century and more . They will never get proper justice because most of the perpetrators of crimes and wrongs against them are long gone .
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