Mother and Baby Homes

A view through the gates of the former mother and baby home at Castlepollard.

Mother and Baby bill to return to Dáil for debate

Mother and Baby Homes

Published: Sat 15 Jul 2023, 2:01 PM

Amendments to the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022 proposed in the Seanad last week will mean the legislation will return to the Dáil where some stages will be debated again.

The scheme, once finalised, will cover the Mother and Baby Institutions investigated by the Commission of Investigation and all County Home institutions. Included in that list is St Felim's County Home and Hospital, Cavan Town; St Mary's Hospital, Castleblayney, Monaghan; St Patrick's Home, Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim; St Joseph's Home, Trim, Meath; and Manor House, Castlepollard, Westmeath.

More than 1,135 Cavan women were identified as residents in eight Mother and Baby Homes across the State in the final report of the Commission’s Investigation.

Addressing the debate last week, Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman brought an amendment with regard to data sharing, which would allow the chief deciding officer, where necessary and proportionate, to access and process personal data and special categories of personal data.

“Institutional records are of key importance to this scheme. Their importance cannot be overestimated. Records will be the means of establishing eligibility and it is this approach that will eliminate the requirement for any applicant to bring forward evidence of abuse or harm,” stated Minister O’Gorman.

In respect of St Felim’s, it was in use from the early 1930s after the Cavan Board of Health decided to petition the government to establish a home for unmarried mothers to serve the counties of Cavan, Longford, Leitrim and Monaghan.

In 1935 the government decided to utilise the mother and baby home at Castlepollard instead of the County Home in Cavan. Run by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the Castlepollard home took the largest number of women from the Breffni county between 1935 and 1971 when it finally closed.

The County Home in Cavan closed to mother and babies in 1962 at which time it became a hospital site and was renamed St Felim’s Hospital. St Felim’s closed in 2003, and the site was put up for sale in 2019.

A vote on the legislation moving to the Fifth Stage was supported 23 in favour and six against.

Cavan-Monaghan Senators Senators Robbie Gallagher (FF) and Joe O'Reilly (FG) were listed as Tellers for the ‘yes’ side.