The daughter of Philomena Lee has called the exclusion of certain women from the Mother-and-Baby Institutions Payment Scheme due to the duration of their time spent in an institution "completely unjust".
Jane Libberton's comments come after the British Labour Party tabled Philomena's Law, named after Ms Lee, in the UK Parliament to help survivors of Irish mother-and-baby homes now living in the UK access compensation.
Survivor and campaigner Philomena Lee was the focus of the 2013 film Philomena, which documented her 50-year search for her forcibly adopted son, Anthony.
Her daughter, Ms Libberton, has called on the Government "to look at the scheme again" as it includes "a lot of exclusions".
Speaking on RTÉ’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, she said "there are 24,000 survivors who cannot apply," adding "around only a tenth of the possible institutions and agencies were included in the redress scheme in the first place".
"There are many, many more people that should be able to apply, but haven't been able to".
She added the babies were "taken from their mothers", adding "it's still the same separation from their mother".
Regarding Philomena's Law, Ms Libberton said she hoped that her mother’s association with the bill will make "more people become aware" of the redress scheme in the UK.
This, she said, is because "the uptake hasn't been that high".
"I think it does need to be publicised a lot more, even just in newspapers and things like that," she said.
"There are many, many people that don't know about it," she added.
There is a mechanism that can allow additional institutions to be added to the Mother-and-Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, the Minister of Agriculture Martin Heydon has said.
Speaking on the same programme, Mr Heydon said while generally primary legislation would need to change, there is mechanism within the act that additional institutions can be added to the scheme in certain circumstances.
The minister said the first report on the scheme is due by 30 June this year, adding a review "has to be done" by September 2026.
"Both those processes will feed into us looking at the elements of this along with the figures and take up," he said.
"We do want the people, who qualify for this and who are impacted, to be able to avail of it," he added.
'They didn't do anything wrong'
Ms Libberton described redress schemes for survivors of Irish mother-and-baby homes as "very important".
In her mother’s case, she said that she feels the scheme gave Ms Lee "some recognition for what happened".
"It kind of gives her a bit of a sense of closure to a certain extent. It's a way of apology to her as well.
"I think it's very important as well to make people understand that they didn't do anything wrong," she said.
Helpline
The London Irish Centre provides a freephone service for survivors and former residents of Mother and Baby Institutions and County Homes on 0800 519 5519