Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is welcome that just under 1,800 payments are in the process of being made or have been made. However, the fact that 34,000 survivors are eligible to apply for the scheme shows the need for the public awareness campaign. People who are entitled to this payment and can apply for it clearly have not done so, for whatever reason. We need to make sure the process is as easy and straightforward as possible.

I know of two cases to date where the person who applied passed away while waiting for their payment. People who applied in March are still waiting. The thousands of applications that have been received need to be gone through as quickly as possible to make sure we get supports to these survivors as quickly as possible. A number of people who have contact me have said the communication has not been great. They have not been given any timeline as to when they will get the notice of determination and when they will be paid. Everything related to the scheme needs to be looked at to make sure it is working ahead of the public awareness campaign.

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