IRELAND
Westmeath Examiner
The thousands of women who were forced into “slave labour” in Castlepollard and other mother and babies home should be compensated by the religious orders who were paid by the state to take care of them, according to the chairman of the Coalition of Mother And Baby Home Survivors (CMABS).
The Irish Times reported last Wednesday that the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes has proposed a redress scheme for survivors who suffered abuse during their time in the facilities. The commission’s final report will be released early next year.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, CMABS chairman Paul Redmond, who was born in the mother and baby home in Castlepollard, says that a redress scheme is long overdue.
“Natural mothers in places like Castlepollard were essentially unpaid slave labour and they were worked to the bone six days a week from early morning until the evening without a penny. The government was paying handsomely for their care and they should not have been doing any work at all. It really was putting their health and emotional wellbeing at risk.
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