Editing Mother and Child Scheme (section)

==Aftermath==
The following month a [[1951 Irish general election|general election]] was called and in June 1951 a new government was formed as a result.

A derivative of the scheme was implemented subsequently by the [[Fianna Fáil]] government which returned to power as a result of the general election. This achieved legislative effect in the 1953 Health Act;<ref>[http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1953/act/26/enacted/en/html Health Act, 1954]</ref> this and later legislation that created the [[Voluntary Health Insurance Board]] in 1957. Although a single-payer system emerged in Ireland, the 1957 Act ended immediate attempts to implement a [[National Health Service]]-style healthcare model. Thus the private and public systems existing side-by-side, later reinforced by the [[1970 Health Act]], which changed healthcare from the responsibility of the county to a smaller number of regional health boards.<ref>[http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1970/act/1/enacted/en/html Health Act, 1970]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Corbett |first=Teresa |date=2015-01-27 |title=A brief history of healthcare in Ireland |url=https://nuighealthpsychology.wordpress.com/2015/01/27/a-brief-history-of-healthcare-in-ireland/ |access-date=2021-07-17 |website=NUIG Health Psychology Blog |language=en}}</ref> The transfer of responsibility from local authority to state led to the introduction of the Unmarried Mother's Allowance in 1973, the first direct State payment to assist an unmarried woman to rear her child in the community.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1973 |title=Unwed mums and deserted wives to get benefits |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/argus/news/unwed-mums-and-deserted-wives-to-get-benefits-29497463.html |access-date=2021-07-17 |website=[[Independent.ie]] |publisher=The Argus |language=en}}</ref>