Trade union condemns Bethany Home compensation move 26 July 2013 Last updated at 17:55 The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has criticised the Irish government for not providing redress for survivors of the Bethany Home. Bethany was a home in Dublin mainly for Protestant women sent there for a range of offences or because they were pregnant and unmarried. David Begg, ICTU General Secretary, has written to Irish justice minister Alan Shatter. In the letter, he called the decision "insulting" and "unjust." "It must be revisited in light of the incontrovertible evidence that the State failed to protect children from neglect and abuse there," he said. He added that providing redress would have a positive impact on the men and women whose lives had been irreparably damaged there. Discrimination The government's proposal to provide 'modest funding' towards a memorial has been characterised by the survivors as insulting and we find it difficult to disagree. Mr Begg said the death and neglect in Bethany Home should be recognised. As an all-island non-sectarian organisation congress insists that fairness be applied to vulnerable Protestant children who have not received equitable treatment from the Irish state. We appeal to you to reconsider the decision. The Irish government ruled out giving compensation to former residents of the Protestant-run home who said they suffered years of neglect and abuse earlier this week. Between 1922 and 1949, a child died at Bethany Home in Dublin every six weeks. An unmarked grave in a nearby cemetery contains the remains of 219 of them. The government said Bethany was a mother and baby home and did not fall within the terms of the compensation scheme. Campaigners said they were disappointed. Minister Alan Shatter has rejected suggestions that the state's position on Bethany was motivated by religious discrimination.