Mother and Baby home survivors deserve justice
The Scottish Greens social security spokesperson Maggie Chapman has welcomed the Scottish Government’s confirmation that victims of the Irish Mother and Baby home scandal resident in Scotland will not have their compensation payments taken into account when deciding on eligibility for Scottish social security and other entitlements.
The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is operated by the government of the Republic of Ireland and provides compensation payments for people impacted by the operation of Irish Mother and Baby Homes. When women had a baby outside marriage, they were often admitted to these homes, regularly from the 1920s up until the 1970s, with the last homes operating as late as the 1990s.
Whilst ostensibly set up to provide for welfare, the homes had extremely high rates of infant mortality, and women there were subjected to abuse. Church and state authorities were complicit in the treatment of the parents and babies accommodated in the homes.
Investigations into the homes intensified after 2015, where a mass grave of babies and children was found in Tuam, Co. Galway. This resulted in a compensation scheme starting in 2024. The scheme is now making payment to those affected, about 13000 of whom live in the UK. Recipients are now finding their eligibility for UK means-tested benefits is being reduced as the payments are being included in capital and savings assessments.
This is also relevant for a number of schemes under the jurisdiction of the Scottish Parliament, including social care and the Scottish Welfare Fund. It is common practice for similar schemes to be discounted when working out eligibility, as is already the case for the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme.
Ms Chapman lodged a Parliamentary question to raise the issue amidst concerns Scottish-resident victims could lose out on their entitlements.
The Scottish Government has confirmed they will progress work to ensure any compensation payments are disregarded when working out entitlements for low-income people in Scotland.
Reacting to the news, Maggie said:
“Survivors of the mother and baby homes endured appalling, systemic misogynistic abuse on a shocking scale. For decades, this cruelty was allowed to continue, marking one of the darkest and most disgraceful chapters in Irish history.
“It is only right that those who have rebuilt their lives here in Scotland are not penalised for their compensation when applying for means-tested benefits. To do so would be a further injustice.
“Our system must be rooted in compassion, dignity and fairness. That means not only supporting people at every stage of their lives, but fully acknowledging the profound suffering they were forced to endure.
“It is right that the Scottish Government is standing by the victims and survivors who have already been through so much.”