29 June 2025
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Labour Senator from Cork South Central Laura Harmon has urged Government to extend redress for survivors of Mother and Baby Homes to anyone who spent any time in such an institution.
Laura Harmon Picture Conor McCabe Photography.
Speaking in advance of a commemoration event in Bessborough today, Senator Harmon said:
“The commemoration in Bessborough will be poignant for those who gather to remember victims and stand with the survivors of Mother and Baby Homes. A shameful, disgraceful period of Ireland’s history, the shadow of which continues to haunt many families across the country.
“Just this week, the Special Advocate for the survivors of Mother and Baby Homes report called for the redress scheme to be extended to all survivors. The Labour Party put forward amendments in February 2021 to expand the redress scheme to ensure access to the scheme for anyone who spent any time in a Mother and Baby institution, cognisant of the inequity of redress proposed.
“The then Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Green Party coalition failed to act to do the right thing for survivors. The report by the Special Advocate published this week, and commemorates like that at Bessborough today, present another opportunity to address the pain of survivors.
“There is no amount of redress that would ever atone for the horrific trauma inflicted on survivors of Mother and Baby Homes. But retraumatising survivors by creating a process whereby some who are more equal than others needs to end. We will look back on years to come and wonder why we failed to do the right thing from the start. The redress scheme must and can be extended. I implore the Government to step up and do the right thing.”