Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 May 2026
459. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether St. Clare’s Baby Home, Stamullen, County Meath, is included in the mother and baby institutions payment scheme; the rationale for its inclusion or exclusion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33855/26]
View answerThe Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme provides payments and health benefits to people who spent time in any of the Mother and Baby or County Home Institutions. These were institutions that were identified by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation as having a main function of providing sheltered and supervised ante and post-natal facilities to single mothers and their children. The institutions covered by the Payment Scheme are set out in Schedule 1 to the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023.
Chapter 2 of the Social History section of the Commission of Investigation report - [www.gov.ie/en/publication/89e43-chapter-2-institutions/] - details the different types of institutions that existed and whether they could be considered Mother and Baby Institutions. St Clare's is described as an adoption society that is associated with St Joseph's, Stamullen, which is listed as a residential children's home. The institutions at Stamullen did not provide ante and post-natal facilities, and therefore they are not included in the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme.
While the 2023 Act lists all of the Mother and Baby Institutions identified by the Commission, section 49 of the Act further provides that, if it were to come to light that an institution, in which the State had a regulatory or inspection function, fulfilled a similar function with regard to single women and their children as those included in the Payment Scheme, the then Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, may insert an additional institution into the Schedule.
The Government recognises that there are people who suffered stigma, trauma and abuse in other institutions. It should be noted that the Payment Scheme is just one of a large suite of actions being undertaken to respond to the legacy of these institutions under the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions and the current Programme for Government has underlined continued commitment to its ongoing delivery. Of the seven major commitments set out in the Action Plan, six are now delivered and in place, while the seventh is well underway. Key actions include access to birth information, the services of the Special Advocate and counselling support, all already in place, as well as the ongoing development of a National Centre for Research and Remembrance.
