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

I thank the Minister. On the figures, I chaired the committee meeting last year in which Revised Estimates were gone through and there was an underspend of €158 million. It was listed as a saving and it was money brought back in this scheme. In fairness, it was expected a lot more would apply in the first year and that was fair enough. If there is such an underspend of the €100 million that is there for 2025, I really would ask that it would be looked at. I appreciate the reviews are there and are laid down in legislation but in the case of the institutions excluded, these survivors are passing away. They are not getting the opportunity to get the justice they deserve and many of them are being excluded from the scheme. I have told this story here before of meeting Michael Grant last year. He was a resident in Temple Hill from when he was four weeks old until he was one year old and then he was adopted. That institution is excluded from the scheme because it is deemed to be a hospital yet his mother paid 5 shillings a week to keep him there and he was adopted out of it. Therefore, it was not a hospital. He and others like him cannot get any justice, any support or anything from the scheme. If there is an underspend again this year, that really should be looked at.

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