People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll has welcomed Assembly support for his amendments to the Inquiry and Redress Scheme Bill. This legislation establishes a statutory public inquiry into the systemic failings of Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses in the North, and creates a statutory redress scheme for those directly affected.
Carroll said: "I am pleased that several of my amendments to the Inquiry and Redress Scheme Bill passed today. They strengthen the inquiry's ability to seek cross-border cooperation and, crucially, to expose and report non-cooperation where it occurs."
"We know that women and babies were transferred between jurisdictions, that records are held in the Republic, in religious archives, and in institutions with little appetite for transparency. This inquiry cannot be hamstrung at the border."
"I am also glad that the inquiry chairperson is now empowered to publish reports in the public interest at any time. Survivors cannot afford to wait years for findings released in a single block. Modular, interim reporting gives them a right to know without delay."
"It will be a relief to doubly-affected individuals that they can now receive more than one payment. Some were taken from their own mothers as children, only to end up admitted to an institution again during their own pregnancy years later. This group is very small and the additional cost is minimal — but their experiences are distinct, and they deserve to be recognised in their own terms."
"An applicant will now also be able to nominate any person to receive a redress payment where no eligible relative exists. People have the right to decide who benefits from this scheme while they are still alive."
"This legislation remains limited. The exclusion of workhouses from the redress scheme and the inclusion of a cruel and arbitrary cut-off date for posthumous claims amount to a denial of justice. I am glad that several of my amendments were passed today, but the fight for full justice for survivors and their families is far from over."