British Labour Party MP Liam Conlon, who authored the legislation dubbed 'Philomena's Law' going through the British parliament, has said it is important former residents of Mother and Baby homes should be able to access compensation.
"I’ve met survivors right across Britain, and survivors I met yesterday in Dublin and they want closure," Mr Conlan said during a visit to Dublin this morning for a meeting with the Labour Party.
"They want to be able to move forward and this is a really important way of securing that."
Mr Conlon has met with Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik who launched a bill to compel religious institutions to pay compensation to former residents of Mother and Baby homes.
A report by negotiator Sheila Nunan, who was tasked with leading a process of negotiation with religious bodies with historical involvement in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions, was published earlier this week.
Ms Bacik said their bill was necessary after only two of eight orders who ran Mother and Baby homes agreed to contribute to redress.
"Our bill would give the state the power to compel religious orders to pay redress," the Labour Party leader said.
"It would enable the taking of civil actions against what we call unincorporated associations, which are religious orders, which don't have company status and it would also enable proceedings to be taken against their associated lay run trust," Ms Bacik added.
The bill is only applicable to liability for acts of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of such associations and so does not generally apply to other unincorporated organisations.
‘Philomena's Law’, is the UK bill named for Philomena Lee - who was played by Judie Dench in the 2013 Oscar-nominated film ‘Philomena’.
The bill will ensure survivors of Mother and Baby Homes, who live in the UK, can access compensation without their benefits being affected.
