Survivors of Ireland's mother and baby homes living in Britain have started to have benefits cut because they accepted compensation from the Irish government. Campaigners including actors Siobhán McSweeney and Steve Coogan have called on Keir Starmer to support Philomena's Law, a bill that would ringfence survivors' benefits. Up to 13,000 survivors in Britain risk losing means-tested benefits if they accept compensation, which ranges from €5,000 to €125,000.
The Irish government's redress scheme began payments in 2024 after an inquiry detailed the experiences of about 56,000 women and 57,000 children in homes run mostly by nuns between 1922 and 1998. A 2021 report documented high infant mortality and neglect. Compensation is treated as savings, leading to cuts in benefits like universal credit and housing benefit.
He had been born less than 16 miles away, but I did not know that he or his other brothers and sister existed until we did some family tracing.
Councils have sent letters notifying recipients of support losses. Some survivors decline compensation to avoid benefit cuts, with rejections final after six months. One woman in her late 70s, abused in a home, hoped to use compensation to visit a half-brother in the US but fears losing pension and housing benefits.
She said, 'The payment was meant to be a token of an apology... ' Philomena's Law, introduced by Labour MP Liam Conlon, has a second reading on 28 March, but its passage before parliament ends is uncertain.