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13 Mar 2026
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13 Mar 2026
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Survivors of mother and baby homes living in the UK will not have social welfare influenced by payments under an Irish redress scheme.
The measure was announced in a communique following Friday’s UK-Ireland Summit in Co Cork.
A proposed “Philomena’s Law”, named after survivor and campaigner Philomena Lee, will help thousands of mother and baby homes survivors accept compensation without losing access to their benefits.
It came after survivors living in Britain raised concerns about applying to a compensation scheme operated by the Irish Government.
A joint statement by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Taoiseach Micheal Martin on Friday said: “We acknowledge the suffering of those who spent time in mother and baby homes during the 20th century.
“In recognition of the lifelong impact of this, today the UK agrees to disregard payments under Ireland’s Mother and Baby Redress Scheme, ensuring that survivors in both countries are treated the same and can receive the compensation to which they are rightly entitled.
“We also welcome Ireland’s agreement in principle to disregard means for compensation payments from UK schemes.”
Mr Martin told reporters: “This is very welcome news, and I think the summit is a catalyst to getting that over the line.”
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