Minister for Children Norma Foley failed to properly apply the law when she excluded two institutions from the mother and baby home redress scheme, a High Court judge has found. Judge Alexander Owens said the minister “erred in law” in evaluating whether St Joseph’s Baby Home in Stamullen, Co Meath, and Temple Hill Hospital in Blackrock, Co Dublin, met the terms for inclusion in the scheme designed to compensate former residents of certain institutions. However, the judge said he could not compel the minister to add the two facilities to the list of those covered by the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023. Judicial review proceedings were taken by John Kiernan (now John Duncan Morris) and Marie Thornton who were put into St Joseph’s and Temple Hill, respectively, when they were babies. Solicitor Norman Spicer, who represented Morris and Thornton said the decision was a “milestone for survivors of the Mother and Baby Institutions”.

Source: The Irish Times February 17, 2026 02:11 UTC