Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has just given me an account of the way in which the system works, but I know that. My question related to the legislation which provides for a review after two years and it is now well past two years and a review has not yet taken place. The Minister's predecessors, the former Ministers, Ruairí Quinn and Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, both committed to me in the previous Dáil that they would have such a review and would examine widening eligibility to the fund. There is huge concern about this because of the age profile of the survivor community who are getting older. They feel that they have not been consulted on what might be new terms of reference. They are very keen that the children of survivors would be included in being enabled to access the fund. The idea of a €12,000 cap needs to be lifted together with clauses in the scheme about surplus money going to the children's hospital. This is quite urgent. I was hoping that the Minister would indicate a timeframe for a review on the one hand and outline a system whereby the survivor groups would also be consulted in setting out the terms of reference for that review which is long overdue.

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