Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I reiterate that the Government is deeply conscious of the trauma which has been experienced by all survivors of abuse, including those who were resident in institutions such as industrial schools and reformatories. Nothing can ever make up for the pain and suffering endured by survivors.

I would also like to echo the Minister, Deputy Foley’s appreciation for the work and commitment of those survivors who engaged with the Department, particularly the members of the consultative forum with which she has met on a number of occasions. Their insights and experience have helped to shape the package of supports which was approved by the Government last June.

I will try to address some of the issues raised by Deputies, many of which I am sure will be further discussed in detail on Committee and Report Stages.

With regard to the issue of eligibility for the new supports, the Bill provides that those supports will be made available to persons who are defined as “former residents’’, that is, persons who received an award of redress from the Residential Institutions Redress Board, RIRB, or a similar court award or settlement. This is a continuation of the approach taken for Caranua, and reflects the manner in which the State has provided redress to those who experienced abuse while resident in one of the relevant institutions.

Overall, payments totalling almost €1 billion were made to 15,600 by the redress board. It was possible for individuals to make an application to the RIRB over an extended period, but the deadline for receipt of applications was in 2011, after which the scheme was closed. Therefore, at this point in time, it is not possible to extend eligibility on that basis beyond this cohort.

With regard to the health supports provided for in the Bill, differing views were expressed by survivors, including that they should be provided with what is referred to as a HAA card. Again, it is important for Deputies to remember that the HAA card was provided for under the Health (Amendment) Act 1996 and was introduced specifically to meet the very significant health needs of a particular group of individuals who had contracted a serious and life-threatening condition, that is, individuals who had contracted Hepatitis C through the administration within the State of contaminated blood and blood products.

The enhanced medical card provided for in this Bill will ensure survivors have access to a range of health supports through the HSE, including GP services, home nursing and home helps, chiropody and podiatry and physiotherapy. This approach is consistent with the approach taken in respect of the Magdalen laundries and mother and baby institutions schemes. Similarly, the €3,000 health support payment for survivors who are living abroad is consistent with the approach taken in the mother and baby institutions payment scheme and ensures that both groups are treated in an equitable manner.

A number of Deputies raised the concern that for those survivors who are resident in the UK in particular receiving a payment of this kind might have an adverse impact on means-tested benefits. The Department of Education is liaising with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on this matter as similar issues arise for those benefiting from the mother and baby institutions payment scheme.

Contact has been already made with the authorities in the UK to progress this issue and there will continue to be further engagement over the coming period. However, it will ultimately be a matter for the UK authorities to decide how to treat relevant payments.

Regarding advocacy supports, the consultative forum’s report highlighted the genuine and often severe difficulties many survivors experience in engaging with and accessing public services. Survivors have identified a pressing requirement for signposting and advocacy for access to these and other services. As the Minister outlined yesterday, Sage Advocacy has already been engaged by the Department to provide this service and has a very strong track record in providing advocacy supports to vulnerable adults, older people and healthcare patients and has already begun to roll out this service for survivors.

Sage Advocacy is already engaging with individual survivors to assist them in accessing the services they require. It is also engaging with relevant groups and organisations to promote awareness of its availability and is developing and implementing an outreach and communications plan to ensure that as many survivors as possible are made aware of the supports it can provide, and the broader supports that are available. The Department will also continue to engage with relevant stakeholders in this regard, including through Ireland’s embassies abroad.

The issue of memorialisation and the need to consult with survivors was also mentioned. As Deputies will be aware, a national centre for research and remembrance, which will stand as a site of conscience to honour equally all those who were resident in industrial schools, Magdalen laundries, mother and baby homes, county home institutions, reformatories and related institutions, is being developed on the site of the former Magdalen laundry on Sean MacDermott Street in Dublin and will include a research centre and repository of records related to institutional trauma in the 20th century, which will form part of the National Archives.

This is a whole-of-government initiative being led by a steering group with membership from the key State stakeholders, including the Departments of Education and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. It is recognised that it is crucial that the project is informed by input from all relevant stakeholders. An initial, open consultation process was undertaken in 2023 and further consultations and engagement on specific elements of the centre, particularly with survivors and former residents, will take place in due course.

The importance attached by the Government to ongoing consultation with survivors on all issues affecting them is also reflected in the recent appointment of Ms Patricia Carey to the role of special advocate for survivors. The special advocate’s remit will encompass industrial and reformatory schools and related institutions, mother and baby institutions, county home institutions, Magdalen laundries and those adopted, boarded out or the subject of an illegal birth registration. The role of the special advocate will be crucial to promoting the collective interests of survivors, as expressed by them, and to amplifying their voices as a central, essential input into Government deliberations on matters that affect them into the future.

I am sure there will be further detailed discussions on these and other points raised on Committee and Report Stages.

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