Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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73. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide statistics on the number of women applying to the Magdalen fund who have accepted compensation from the fund to date; the number who have had their applications denied on the basis that the institution in which they spent time is not covered by the scheme; the numbers who listed An Grianan as the institution in which they spent time; the number of applications pending; and the number of women who are appealing their offers of compensation. [26575/14]

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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The Minister answered part of the question earlier. I sought statistics regarding those who have accepted compensation under the Magdalen fund and those who have applications pending. However, another few aspects need to be addressed.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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In the light of the Government decision to implement the scheme recommended by Judge Quirke, my Department established a dedicated unit of nine officers whose sole task is to assist in the implementation of the scheme. A total of 754 applications have been received to date and 357 applicants have received their lump sum payment so far. The cost is €12.8 million to date. I may have said €10 million earlier. A further 106 formal offers have been made and letters of provisional assessment on the length of stay in a relevant institution have issued to an additional 35 applicants.

The remaining cases require further investigation. There is a problem. If the relevant religious congregation has no clear record, as is often the case, my officials will carry out a thorough examination to check whatever records are available to support the claim. Applicants consented to the provision of personal information to my Department by any Department, health or educational institution and the religious congregations for the purpose of verifying their claim. That work is under way and huge support has been offered to individual applicants where no records are available. Every effort is being made to work with other Departments to check where the possibility of a record exists. The applicants have given permission to gather that information together and that will help in order that corroborative information can be used to verify that the applicant was in an institution for a given period.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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I acknowledge what has been done to date and the Minister's response when I raised this issue on Leaders' Questions recently. However, there is a problem in that only 50% of the applicants have been dealt with and the pace is slow. Can those who are of advanced years or who have serious health problems be prioritised? Is the Minister satisfied that the Department is in receipt of all the records that are available, not only from the religious orders that were involved but from other sources, and is she satisfied that they have been co-operating?

There is also the issue of those who have been refused. Is the Ombudsman their only recourse or is there another way they can be advocated for? I refer to ladies who have mental health issues and are unable to advocate for themselves. They either had a mental health issue that caused them to be placed in an institution or the issue emerged or was exacerbated because they were institutionalised. What is the position in this regard? What is the position of ladies who are in nursing homes and still under the care of a religious order? I acknowledge that the quality of care is excellent. These are outstanding issues, including the pace of the inquiries. I hope those living outside the State and those with serious medical issues can be addressed as a priority.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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We have a mechanism to support those who are outside the country to ensure they access medical services, which was agreed by the Government this morning. The issue of vulnerable persons was also included in the heads of the Bill that went to Cabinet earlier to ensure there is legal provision for relatives or other appropriate persons to act on behalf of the women who do not have the capacity to act on their own behalf. That is included in the legislation that will come before the House. That will deal with the issues the Deputy raised regarding women who have mental health difficulties or are vulnerable, or those who are in living in nursing homes and need support.

The Deputy also asked whether all the records were being made available. Every effort is being made to get them and all the applicants have agreed that the Department can approach other agencies to get whatever information is available. It is probably difficult to judge precisely how much co-operation there has been but, clearly, every effort is being made to ask for the records and I hope people will co-operate.

With regard to appeals, one can appeal to the Ombudsman, but if applicants disagree with the provisional assessment made by the restorative justice implementation team, they can request an internal review of their case. If there are cases the Deputy feels require a further internal review, that will be possible. There are five internal review cases on hand and ten applicants have lodged an appeal with the Ombudsman's office.