Some issues being raised in public debate on mother-and-baby homes are beyond the focus of an upcoming commission of inquiry, the Minister for Children has said.
James Reilly is consulting with campaign groups and individuals to finalise the terms of reference for the commission of inquiry into mother-and-baby homes, which he is expected to bring to Government in the near future.
Replying to a parliamentary question from Socialist TD Joe Higgins on whether Westbank Orphanage in Greystones, Co Wicklow, would be included in the commission, Dr Reilly said “it is clear at this stage that at least some of the issues being raised in public debate are beyond the intended central focus on mother-and-baby homes, as debated by the house”.
The Bethany Survivors’ Group has called for the inquiry to include all homes that catered for the Protestant community in the Republic, such as Westbank Orphanage, as well as the Bethany Home and the Church of Ireland Magdalene Home in Dublin.
Terms of reference
The organisation last week said Dr Reilly gave it the impression that Westbank would be excluded from the commission’s terms of reference.
"As far as he is concerned, it won't be included," said the group's secretary, Niall Meehan, after a meeting with the Minister.
Westbank Orphanage was a Protestant-run institution in which survivors allege children were sexually and physically abused. They also say certain children were sent from the orphanage across the Border to work on farms in Northern Ireland.
Mr Meehan today said the Minister is suggesting it may be unworkable to include abused victims in the inquiry “and that is unacceptable to us”.
He said many of the children in Westbank were sent there on their own, without their mothers. “They were in an unregulated institution in which which many stayed in until their 20s and that has to be investigated.”
The Government announced the establishment of a commission of inquiry in May, following revelations about the deaths of almost 800 children at Tuam mother-and-baby home. The commission of inquiry will be chaired by Ms Justice Yvonne Murphy.
