State admits rights of mother-and-baby home survivors were breached

The State has admitted in the High Court that the rights of survivors of mother-and-baby homes were breached when they were not given a draft copy of the report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes before it was published.

The court had heard a challenge by two women, Philomena Lee and Mary Harney, aimed at quashing parts of the final report.

Further submissions were due to be heard in advance of the court giving judgment on their cases. The two cases represented a total of eight similar actions.

Senior Counsel Michael Lynn told the court this afternoon the cases had been settled.

He said the State was consenting to a declaration being made in each case that the State had failed in its duty to provide the parts of the report relevant to each woman in advance of the finalisation of the report.

An acknowledgement by the Minister for Children that each of the women takes issue with parts of the report will be published alongside the report as well as online and in the Oireachtas Library.

Senior Counsel, Eoin McCullough for the State said the Minister had consented to these declarations being made in light of the evidence given to the court at a hearing last month.

The women's costs will also be paid by the State.

Mr Justice Garret Simons said the case raised important and significant issues and he would have had to address novel points.

He said it was always more satisfactory when a settlement could be reached between the parties.

This applied particularly in cases like these, which were very sensitive.

He said each of the applicants had suffered greatly during the time of their residence in the mother-and-baby homes and the court had sympathy for the position they had found themselves in.

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As part of the settlement, the Minister for Children will publish an acknowledgment alongside the final report of the Commission of Investigation.

This acknowledgement will state that a number of survivors do not accept the accounts given in the report as a true and full reflection of the oral and documentary evidence they gave.

It will list all the parts of the report which are not accepted by the survivors. The acknowledgment will also state that if the survivors had been given draft copies of extracts of the report, they would have had the opportunity to ask the Commission to correct the statements they believe to be wrong.

There will also be an acknowledgement from the Minister that the survivors did not have that opportunity.

A declaration that the Commission breached its statutory duty by failing to provide the women, who were identifiable, with a copy of the draft report, will also be published on the website along with the final report.

The Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, Sinead Gibney, said the cases should never have needed to be taken.

Ms Gibney paid tribute to the strength and resilience of Ms Harney and Ms Lee, as well as the other survivors who were fighting to see their accounts accurately told and to vindicate their right to truth and dignity.

She said there must be a change not only to the political rhetoric but to the State's attitude and responsibilty towards anyone who was a victim or survivor of State wrongdoing.

In a statement, the Clann Project, which has been supporting the survivors and advocating for them for them, said the Commission of investigation's report was fatally flawed and no longer stood as a credible record.

It called on the Government to drastically amend the redress scheme and extend it to groups previously excluded from the scheme.

It has also called for inquests to be held into the deaths and disappearances of children and mothers and for the Government to give full access to the Commission's archive.