The Truth Recovery Independent Panel has submitted its response to the Executive Office (TEO) Public Consultation on a statutory Public Inquiry and Financial Redress Scheme for those affected by Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries, Workhouses and their pathways and practices.
The response is primarily focused on those areas relevant to the Panel's Terms of Reference under the Truth Recovery Programme. It also addresses areas where Panel members can offer unique insights based on their expertise and knowledge. These include:
- The composition of the Inquiry
- The time period to be covered by the Inquiry
- The proposed focus on systemic failings
- The institutions within the scope of the Inquiry
- The persons affected by the Institutions
- Deaths and burials
- Redress scheme
- The application process for Standardised Payments/amount of Award
- Posthumous claims/next of kin
Independent Panel co-chairs, Sean O’Connell and Leanne McCormick, commented on the value of panel members’ unique perspectives, and the victim-survivor-centred approach applied when drafting their response:
“Independent Panel members have been acutely aware of our unique position and responsibility when drafting our response to the TEO proposals. Our response has drawn upon the valuable knowledge and expertise of all panel members, including those with experience of the Institutions and their pathways and practices.
We have kept victim-survivors at the centre of our responses, ensuring that the views of those we have engaged with to date are reflected.
The proposals the Panel present to TEO are trauma-centred, promote equity between victims-survivors, and align with our mantra to “do no harm” to those impacted by the issues at the centre of the consultation.”
Read the Independent Panel’s response to the TEO Public Consultation.