Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to the amendments first and then speak to some of the wider points. The Bill as it currently stands provides for a review of the operation of the scheme under section 42. The intention is that two reviews will be conducted on the scheme. The first is an interim one that will commence two years after the second anniversary of the establishment day, and the other will be commenced after the completion of the scheme. Section 12 also provides that the chief deciding officer shall prepare an annual report on the performance of his or her function and that each annual report will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Section 42 sets out a list of matters that should be considered as part of these reviews and it allows for the Minister to specify any additional matter. I consider that these matters are appropriate to the purpose of this section, which is to allow for a comprehensive review of the scheme as enacted. It is for this reason that I am not in a position to accept amendment No. 2 or amendment No. 62 as both amendments propose matters which represent a review of the parameters of the scheme and a broadening of the eligibility beyond what has been agreed by the Government and what is being provided for within this Bill. This is not a function of the legislation and it would require distinct Government approval.

However, I have given consideration to the matters raised on Committee Stage in regard to the manner in which this review was published and the timescales for commencement. As outlined on Committee Stage, I did not think it was proportionate or feasible to commence a review of the scheme six months after its establishment, as proposed in amendment No. 2. However, I was of the view that proposals brought forward on Committee Stage and today by way of amendments Nos. 59 and 60 from Deputies Ward and Funchion are reasonable. These amendments propose that reviews should be commenced not later than six months after the second anniversary of the scheme and the cessation date. Therefore, I am proposing amendment No. 58, which provides that the first or interim review of the operation of the scheme should be commenced as soon as possible but no later than six months after the second anniversary of the establishment date for the scheme, and that the review on completion of the scheme should be commenced as soon as possible but not later than six months after the cessation date for the scheme.

I am also proposing amendment No. 61, which explicitly states that where a review is completed, a report will be prepared and submitted to the Minister, and that the Minister shall cause this report to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. It was always the intention that this would be the case. On Committee Stage, Deputy Sherlock pointed out that this was not explicit, and the amendment now makes the matter explicit.

As I have acknowledged in previous proceedings in regard to this Bill, I am acutely aware that no one scheme can provide a response to the full range of individual experiences, pain and suffering suffered by survivors as a result of the legacy of these institutions. The State is proposing a scheme where applicants will not be required to demonstrate or bring forward evidence in regard to their experience, or enter into an adversarial individual assessment process. This learns from the experience of previous redress schemes.

The general payment approach recognises time spent in the institutions but also the harsh conditions, the emotional abuse and all other forms of mistreatment, stigma and trauma experienced in the institutions. The increase in payments, based on time spent, also recognises the impact of the longer stays in these harsh institutional settings.

I have said before that the payments scheme is one element of the range of responses by the State to survivors and former residents. This range of responses includes counselling services for all survivors and former residents, the very significant information and tracing Act that was launched in 2021, a service which provides guaranteed access to birth certificates as well as early life information, the establishment of a national centre for research and remembrance, the support for local memorial initiatives, the appointment of a special advocate, a children's fund to provide supports for children who are currently experiencing disadvantage, and the significant work to advance the excavation, exhumation and identification of the remains of infants in the Tuam burial site.

I know from my engagement with survivors that redress comes in many forms and means different things for different people. For many people who went through these institutions, a key desire was to have access to their information and, as we know, that is now provided within the birth information and tracing legislation. Over 6,500 people have sought information through that scheme and, already, just short of 1,500 people have received access to their information, some of them for the very first time.

The Government has agreed a payments scheme which, as I said, has an estimated value of €800 million. It will cover an estimated 34,000 former residents and survivors, recognising the huge impact and the huge scale of impacts that these institutions had across the State over many decades. This is far beyond what was recommended in the commission's report. It is far beyond even what the interdepartmental group proposed to Government. This scheme stands alongside the other elements of the action plan, the information and tracing legislation, the legislation to allow for the exhumation at Tuam and the provision of a records and memorial centre. It stands as part of an overall response that the State is making in seeking to make amends to survivors of these institutions, although I have always said we will never be able to do enough.

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