The Fine Gael leader in the Seanad, Senator Regina Doherty, has called on the Cabinet to look again at the Mother and Baby Homes legislation, so that survivors who were in such homes for less than six months can qualify for redress.
Senator Doherty said she had not heard "any logical reason" as to why such survivors should not qualify, adding this left her with the impression that "... it boils down to money, and I really hate that."
She said excluding such people means they are also excluded from the apology and acknowledgement of their pain and this would "hinder any recovery" and compound their pain.
Referencing yesterday's "eye-watering" corporate tax receipts, she added: "So the one thing I absolutely know is that we're not short of money."
The Fine Gael leader in the Seanad said Senators needed to: "... go back to Government... go back to our Cabinet colleagues... and ask them not to leave anyone behind."
She said the government needed to "recognise the hurt we have caused in the past number of months."
Senator Doherty said if the government made changes it would "play a part in that fight against darkness and despair" and contribute to "justice and dignity".
Opening the debate, Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman described the €800 million scheme as the "largest of its kind in the history of the State" and would involve financial payments to 34,000 people and enhanced medical cards to 19,000 people.
Mr O'Gorman said, despite the size of the scheme, the Government recognised that no payment would make-up for the pain and suffering inflicted by the shameful legacy of the Mother-and-Baby Home institutions.
The Minister said the legislation tried to help survivors by having a low burden of proof; that it was non-adversarial and evidence of abuse was not required.
He said it had been amended to further assist survivors by ensuring that the list of institutions could be expanded at a later date.
Read more: Is the government's Mother-and-baby home redress scheme fair?
