Sinn Féin TD for Tipperary Martin Browne has been informed by Minister Roderic O’Gorman of the level to which the redress scheme will exclude over 40% of survivors of Mother and Baby homes and County institutions.

Teachta Browne said:

“The proportion of survivors that will be excluded from the redress scheme is staggering.

“The Minister informed me that out of the estimated 58,000 survivors of Mother and Baby homes who are alive today, 34,000 will, to some extent, be included in the scheme.

“This means that as many as 24,000 are excluded, which is 41% of all survivors.

“This is clear evidence that the redress scheme as announced this week is not fit for purpose.  

“Every minute spent in these institutions was a minute too long.  

“Determining whether someone can access the scheme by applying time limits does not reflect the fact that it only took the religious orders a moment to make a decision that would fundamentally affect the entire future of a young child and its mother.

“The six-month rule represents an abandonment by the state of its responsibilities to all survivors who have been failed and excluded over the decades.

“Defending the exclusion of those boarded out as children on the grounds that the Commission of Investigation did not focus on them also lacks justification.  

“The scheme should have been based on the experiences of the women and children concerned, not the flawed Commission of Investigation.”