Minister Foley welcomes Announcement of a Disregard for Awards to UK-based survivors
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí:
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley, welcomes the announcement by the Taoiseach and the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer today (Friday) that payments made from Ireland’s Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme to UK-based survivors will be disregarded in means tests for benefits across the United Kingdom.
Such a disregard is already in place in Ireland. This means that payments are discounted for tax purposes and in assessments for social welfare and other benefits.
However, that disregard could not extend beyond the Irish jurisdiction until today’s announcement.
Minister Foley said “I am pleased to welcome this important announcement by An Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. I am conscious that some survivors of mother and baby institutions living in the UK, and eligible for the scheme, were potentially facing lower benefits if they accepted an award from the scheme. Together with my officials and DSP embassy officials in London, we have been working closely with colleagues in the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) in GB and the Department of Communities in NI on this matter.
I want to thank An Taoiseach and colleagues across government for their efforts and steadfast support. I would also like to express gratitude to Prime Minister Starmer and the UK Government for their co-operation and commitment to ensuring these survivors have their voices heard.
A special tribute is also due to Liam Conlon MP, whom I have met and engaged with in relation to his enormously helpful Philomena’s Law in Westminster. This piece of draft legislation has amplified and helped advance this important issue. I am immensely grateful to Liam for his unwavering support for survivors living across the UK.”
To date there have been some 770 applications from UK survivors to the scheme, some 580 of which have received an offer of an award. The Payment Scheme has been assisting UK-based applicants in terms of their acceptance of awards on an ad-hoc basis. Such assistance has involved ensuring some flexibility within the process pending the possibility of a disregard coming into being.
A communication campaign to promote the Scheme is operating in Ireland and in jurisdictions overseas that have a significant Irish diaspora. It includes press releases, social media posts, briefings with stakeholders, visits to Britain to meet with groups supporting applicants, and a paid advertising campaign across radio, print, online and community advertising (e.g. buses, trains, billboards), with a spend to date of almost €1.8 million. It is also worth noting, over 26,000 leaflets, raising awareness on the Scheme, have been distributed across Ireland and the UK.
The communication campaign is continuing with further advertising taking place from later this month (March).