Mother and baby home payment scheme now open for applicants

The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme has now opened for applications.

The Payment Scheme has been set up to provide financial payments and health supports to eligible people who spent time in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions in Ireland. 

It has been described as a ‘key element’ of the Government’s Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions.

There is an application process in place to help people access the benefits that they are entitled to. 

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has said the ‘quickest and easiest way to apply’ is to do so online by visiting www.gov.ie/paymentscheme

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission have welcomed the scheme but is calling for a change to include everyone who spent any time in a Mother and Baby Institution as there are currently certain requirements that people must meet regarding the length of time they stayed in an Institution in order to be eligible for the scheme. 

They have issued a statement regarding the scheme that reads, “IHREC again recommended the removal of the six-month stay requirement to ensure that all children – including children who were adopted, boarded out and fostered – who were resident in a relevant institution are eligible to apply to the Scheme”.

“The 180 day period is not an indicator of whether a child suffered harm, such as from the forced separation of mother and child”.

“Similarly, the Scheme provides that a person must have been resident for 180 days to be entitled to a health support payment or eligible for the provision of health services without charge”.

They continued, “We see no rational connection between the potential harm suffered and the length of stay requirement, and therefore believe that all persons who were resident in an institution for any length of time should be eligible for a health support payment or health services without charge”.

The Payment Scheme Office have said they will be processing all applications as quickly as possible, with a priority given to older people. The first set of applications to be processed will be applications from those aged 80 and older.

Further resources and information on the application process, is available at the Payment Scheme website.

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