Victor Boyhan demands redress for West Bank orphanage survivors

Well, firstly, Minister, I want to thank you for coming in here to take this commencement matter. It relates to West Bank orphanage in Greystones in County Wicklow. And I suppose what I've asked for is the need for the Minister to explore all options in to provide support and redress for the survivors affected by persons who raised and availed of the services of West Bank. Now, this organisation is very well known. Indeed, this has been well documented on current affairs programmes, both on RTE radio and television. And everyone comes around and starts shaking their head and saying it's all shocking. And you meet people in here day in, day out, with so many of these stories, and they're all saying it's all terrible. And yet they're in the heart of power and the corridors of power here. And suddenly they seem helpless to do anything. It's an extraordinary situation that I find myself in here as an advocate, very regularly advocating for these organisations. So I think it's important, and you'll understand this yourself, and I think everyone here will understand, that there is a need to understand and make sense of what happened in anyone's past, but particularly in relation to West Bank orphanage, and how these children made them came from Northern Ireland into this particular establishment. And there's also a need for learnings from the past. We've got to learn from the past, all of us. And so that similar things would never happen again as they happened in West Bank. There was also that call for collective solidarity, and that's a really important call. And also from the point of view of the former residents of West Bank, they talk of a desire for justice, a desire for compensation, and a desire for redress. And later on, of course, we will be discussing all of those issues in the other context of the legislation to wrap up Karanua and put in place some educational and health supports. But that's for later on. But unfortunately, West Bank orphanage are not included, they're excluded. And I think to put the context, I'm going to read very briefly, the context of a letter that was addressed to then on Taoiseach Simon Harris TD on Monday, the 8th of April 2024, which I subsequently forwarded to Roderick O'Gorman, who told me or wrote back to say that it wasn't a matter for him, but it was a matter for Ms. Norma Foley TD, Minister for Education. But anyway, I'll just read some extracts from the letter, which I'll make available to the Oireachtas later on. So, dear Simon, congratulations on your election as Taoiseach. Remember, this is his constituency. It's in Wicklow. Congratulations on your election as Taoiseach, scheduled for tomorrow. I rang your office on Tuesday last, the 2nd of April, and was asked to write to you to explain the injustice and denial of redress to former residents of West Bank orphanage. In 2018, Minister Catherine Sapone invited me and our group to join the collaborative forum to advise on the compensation arrangements for further mother and baby home residents. I continued in that capacity to advise the current Minister, Roderick O'Gorman. The Minister's compensation schemes made me ineligible for compensation. I will not even get the enhanced medical card, though, and it will be of little benefit to me because I live in Armagh. The Mother and Baby Home Commission inquiry recognised the injustice and denial of redress for the West Bank residents. The Mother and Baby Home Commission twice called on the Government to grant redress to West Bank residents. The Commission's second interim report of 216 stated Section 5.14 that West Bank should have been included in the residential redress scheme. The Mother and Baby Home Commission's Inquiry's final report in 2020, not that long ago, emphatically reinstated that position. It said that West Bank was unfairly excluded from the residential institution's redress recommendations. So on behalf of the West Bank residents, I am simply asking here today, I am a conduit here, I am a voice for them. I believe they have a strong case. I have reviewed all of the files in relation to this matter. I have sought external advice and there may be other options that will have to be triggered in the coming days if there is not a favourable response from the Government on the final requests that have been made in the last few days. But basically I am calling on the Government, you know, to reopen the situation. But also maybe you might be able to enlighten this Minister today of what reliefs or alternatives that could be available for the past residents of West Bank. I am very grateful to Senator Boyan for raising this important issue. And just for the clarity of the Chamber, before I get to the specifics, as Senator Boyan will appreciate, the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme opened for applications in March of 2024. It provides payments and health benefits to people who spent time in any of the Mother and Baby or County Home Institutions that were identified by the Mother and Baby Home Commission investigation. As Senator Boyan knows, a large part of my work as Minister of Diaspora has been working with those survivors of institutional abuse, particularly in Great Britain, but a not insignificant number in North America as well, who we are desperately trying to get into the scheme. They are absolutely people who deserve the attention that they did not get for so long. The institutions covered by the payment scheme are set out in Schedule I to the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act of 2023. As the Senator has laid out, West Bank Orphanage, which was previously the Protestant Home for Orphan and Destitute Girls slash Haralds Cross Orphanage, was not investigated by the Commission investigation because it operated primarily as a residential children's home rather than as an institution providing anti- and postnatal facilities. In its second interim report, the Commission outlined that West Bank Orphanage may have been unfairly excluded from the residential institutions redress scheme administered by the Department of Education and Youth. They did not consider what it would be appropriate to include West Bank in their terms of reference. The report states that West Bank was not generally regarded as a mother and baby home but rather as an orphanage. Chapter 2 of the Social History section of the Commission of Investigation report details the different types of institutions that existed and whether they could be considered mother and baby institutions. West Bank Orphanage is listed as a residential children's home, for this reason is not included in the mother and baby institution's payment scheme. The proposals for the payment scheme were developed following extensive deliberations on the very complex issues in question. They were informed by consultation with survivors as well as the recommendations of the Commission of Investigation and Interdepartmental Working Group. The Government ultimately decided on a scheme which is an overall term slightly broader than those recommended by the Commission. The Government recognises there are people who have suffered stigma, trauma and abuse in other institutions. 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, section 49 of the Act, Senator, provides that the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitization, may insert an additional institution in the schedule. I suppose, in conclusion, Senator, I think this is the opportunity that lies before us this morning to continue the process that you started to write what is historic and justice, particularly in relation to the West Bank Home. So I would like to give my personal commitment on the floor of this chamber to you, Senator, that let us take this forward together, let us engage with the line Minister and let us get this included, because I think that is only right and just and everything that requires to make that happen, I will play my full part and I will ensure that the Tornish do well and he has asked me to convey that to you here on the floor of the House. I suppose the one line that jumps off there, you know, and this is the official response, the West Bank was not generally regarded as a mother and baby home, but rather an orphanage. Now, what's the difference? Abuse is abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, in anything, in a state school, in this building, anywhere, is not acceptable and justice has to be at the end of the day. So I welcome and take up, we'll take up your invitation to try and collaborate and work together and see what we can do. I suppose what's very important, someone said to me yesterday when we were talking about this matter, rising above the weight, I thought it was very poignant and I'm going to tell it here, rising above the weight of the past is not easy. The past continually elbows its way back into the present. Escaping the memories of horrific abuse is a journey with many turns and indeed many setbacks. For the people of West Bank, they want justice. They want an acknowledgement of what they said and are continuing to say is true. They want to be believed. And it is incumbent on us, particularly later today, that we don't pass the book, that we take our responsibilities serious, that we engage with you, Minister, and other Ministers, but to come in here and keep saying we can do nothing is simply not on. I thank you for your time. Senator, as of the 8th of June, over 6,500 applications have been received for the payment scheme. Over 5,200 payments are either processed and completed or in the process being made. More than 5,800 notices of termination have issued to applicants, over 82 per cent of which contain an offer of benefits. The value of financial payments to the date is over €65 million. A not insignificant sum of money, but in the context of what went on for decades and decades, I would matter that you could put no amount on it. As I have pointed out, section 49 of the Act provides the Minister the clear opportunity to add an additional institution based on the advocacy and the determination that they will receive. That is the opportunity for West Bank, and I think that is an opportunity that needs to be realised. I thank you for raising this here today. Good to thank you. Thank you for having me. Good to see you. Thank you. Very last time. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?