Attempts by Government to push religious orders to pay more than a quarter of a billion euro to people affected by mother and baby homes has been described as a “form of extortion”, by Senator Ronan Mullen.

Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Senator Mullen said that where religious orders wronged people according to the standards of the time, or if any of their members abused people or failed to act on reports of abuse, then they should certainly contribute.

“But if this is about general societal atonement for the harshness of the past, then it is the State that should pay.”

Minister for Children Norma Foley is exploring how the orders might be legally forced to pay, raising the spectre of asset and bank account seizure.

Surprisingly, the Legion of Mary have also been subject to the threat of forced pay-outs despite their exemplary record in helping mothers raise their babies themselves.

Senator Mullen said: “It shows how divorced from reality the whole push to get money out of religious organisations is, that they even target the Legion of Mary which by the standards of the time was very enlightened and did their best in their homes to help mothers who wanted to keep their babies”.