Survivors of Ireland's notorious homes for unwed mothers could lose benefits in the U.K.

Sheena Goodyear · CBC Radio

· Posted: Jun 11, 2025 6:29 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 hours ago

Jane Libberton was shocked to larn that her aged parent could suffer her benefits if she yet receives compensation for having her toddler taken distant from her 7 decades ago.

Libberton is the girl of Philomena Lee, a 92-year-old Irish pistillate whose communicative of being forcibly separated from her lad brought planetary attraction to Ireland's acheronian past of parent and babe homes: Catholic institutions for unmarried mothers and their children.

Ireland is present offering fiscal compensation to the survivors of those homes, which are notorious for their agelong past of abuse, neglect, unpaid labour and forced adoptions. 

But for the thousands of survivors who present reside successful the United Kingdom — Lee included — accepting that wealth means they could suffer retired connected overmuch needed authorities benefits.

"It benignant of nullifies the constituent of the compensation," U.K. Labour MP Liam Conlon told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. 

Conlon has introduced a measure to forestall that from happening, called Philomena's Law. Libberton joined him connected CBC Radio to enactment the projected authorities named aft her mother.

"I deliberation it is simply a large happening that he's trying to bash for the Irish radical present successful this country," she said. 

What happened to Philomena Lee and different survivors?

Between 1922 and 1998, tens of thousands of unmarried Irish mothers and large women and girls were placed successful the mostly nun-run institutions, often against their will.

In 2021, Ireland published its last study from a nationalist enquiry into the homes. It contained accounts from astir 56,000 women and 57,000 children who were placed oregon calved successful the institutions, detailing horrific accounts of abuse, neglect, kid deaths, forced labour and household separation.

Of each the tragic tales to look from the scandal, Lee's is 1 of the champion known. It was told successful the 2009 publication The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by writer Martin Sixsmith, past adapted into the 2013 movie Philomena, starring Judi Dench.

Pregnant astatine 18, Lee was sent to the Sean Ross Abbey successful Roscrea, wherever she was forced to bash unpaid labour. It continued until she was 22, erstwhile her three-year-old lad Anthony was abruptly adopted by a household successful the U.S. without her consent.

"All I could spot was his look peering retired the backmost of the [car] model and that was the past I ever saw him," Lee recounted during a 2014 interrogation with then-As It Happens host Carol Off.  "I person ne'er forgotten that infinitesimal successful my full beingness and I don't accidental I ever will."

Why survivors could suffer benefits

In the U.K., the authorities runs a strategy of societal benefits for those successful need, including pension credits, lodging benefits and societal attraction for radical who are sick oregon disabled.

Those benefits are means-tested, which means eligibility is contingent connected a person's income and savings. 

So an influx of compensation from the Irish authorities — anyplace from €5,000 to €125,000 ($7,800 to $195,000) — would interaction that formula, perchance putting immoderate benefits retired of survivors' reach. 

"She's getting older and frailer, truthful she's astir apt going to person to get carers astatine immoderate point," Libberton said of her mother. "So the compensation money, she'd person to wage for carers retired of that."

WATCH | 2021 study finds thousands of infants died successful parent and babe homes: 

Conlon's measure would exempt the Irish compensation bundle from the means-tested benefits formula. And it has wide support. More than 100 MPs from each parties (out of the U.K. little house's 650 MPs) person signed a missive of enactment endorsing the bill. 

"It shows that we're gathering a consensus," Conlon said. "This shouldn't beryllium astir enactment politics. This should beryllium thing that everyone tin unite behind."

Is the U.K. liable for an Irish scandal?

During a statement connected the measure Tuesday, Labour's Andrew Western, the parliamentary under-secretary of authorities for enactment and pensions, said the authorities is already "carefully considering whether to legislate to disregard outgo from Ireland's parent and babe institutions outgo scheme" — though helium could not supply a timeline. 

Western noted that akin exemptions for means-tested benefits person been carved retired earlier for radical who received compensation for, among different things, the U.K.'s tainted humor scandal, the Windrush procreation migrant scandal and the 2021 Grenfell Tower fires. 

Still, helium said, this lawsuit could beryllium much analyzable due to the fact that the compensation comes from extracurricular the country.

"What each the examples I person fixed person successful communal is that the circumstances that gave emergence to that compensation outgo either occurred successful this state oregon progressive events for which the U.K. authorities person nonstop work oregon liability," Western said.

"We indispensable not hide that income-related benefits are paid for done wide taxation, truthful disregarding a compensation outgo comes astatine a outgo to the taxpayer."

Conlon admits that carving retired an objection for overseas wealth would, indeed, beryllium "unprecedented."

"Everything's unprecedented until it happens, and this needs to happen, and I'm going to support campaigning until it does happen," helium said.

Libberton, meanwhile, says her parent is arrogant to enactment Conlon's efforts. 

"Her communicative ... has made truthful overmuch interaction astir the satellite and to truthful galore people," Libberton said. "She is precise pleased that this is going to beryllium a lasting bequest successful her name."