Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

110. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will bring forward the review into the mother and baby institutions payment scheme due to be completed next year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8179/25]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister about the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, the review due to take place by mid-2026 and the issues raised, particularly around those excluded from that scheme. Will the Minister bring forward that review?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Just for information, the mother and baby institutions payment scheme opened for applications in March 2024. The underpinning legislation for the scheme provides for a number of reports and reviews to be produced. Section 12 provides for annual reports to be prepared by 30 June by the chief deciding officer of the scheme. These reports are to include details on applications, determinations, staffing and training.

Section 48 provides for two reviews into the operation of the scheme to be completed. The first is to be completed within six months of the scheme’s second anniversary, by September 2026. As the scheme has been open for less than a year and I have not yet received the first annual report from the chief deciding officer, it would be premature to initiate a review at this time.

As of 17 February, almost 6,200 scheme applications have been received. Nearly 5,250 notices of determination have issued to applicants, of which more than 82% contain an offer of benefits under the scheme. Applicants have six months to decide to accept the offer before they need to respond but already some 3,900 payments have been made or are in the process of being made.

While the Department projected higher up-front applicant numbers in 2024, the scheme is open for five years so there is plenty of time for potential applicants to apply. It is difficult to predict at what stage across the five-year lifetime applicants will apply, although we do know that in some previous redress schemes, significant numbers of applications were actually made very much so towards the closing dates.

It is important to emphasise that the payment scheme is just one element of the Government’s response to the complex legacy of mother and baby institutions. Of the seven major commitments set out in the Government action plan for survivors, six are now delivered and are actually in place, while the seventh is well under way. Key actions which have been achieved include counselling support, access to birth information, with almost 15,200 cases completed and the creation of the special advocate for survivors, as well as the ongoing development of the National Centre for Research and Remembrance.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that. There are a couple issues here I had raised with the Minister's predecessor in terms of the scheme. The number of applicants applying and the number of payments issued to date have been quite low. That is dependent on the number applying, so clearly more work needs to be done on that messaging and communication. I know that is being done abroad but it needs to be looked at again.

Approximately 34,000 people are eligible to apply. To date, just over 6,100 people have applied to the scheme.

Regarding those institutions that are excluded, I found that quite odd. The exclusion of the institutions has been based on a list that was investigated by the commission of investigation. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has stated this is flawed in terms of the institutions that are excluded. It is very hard to tell people that because they were not in a particular institution, they do not get the support. Those excluded institutions is what I would like looked at in particular.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I appreciate the points she is making but given that we have not yet reached the one-year anniversary and I have not received either the annual report or the first of the two reviews, it would be premature to go into the system of review. The Deputy referenced sincerely the need in respect of promotion, advertising and allowing people to be aware that the scheme is in place. The interdepartmental group that advised the Government on the design of the scheme estimated the cost of communication and publicity to be well in excess of €2 million. That includes social media and advertising abroad whether it is the United States, the UK, Australia or wherever the case may be; you name it. There have been two phases of advertising across all those jurisdictions consisting of radio, print, online and out-of-home advertising, as well as a poster campaign and so much more. There are five years there, which does give people an opportunity. As I said, often the uptake is towards the end rather than at the start.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | 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.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. We want to the scheme to work. That is why so much effort is going into the whole advertising element of it and much more. Regarding those who are excluded from the scheme, I absolutely understand the points that are raised by so many. However, those identified by the commission of investigation as having a main function of providing shelter and supervision from an antenatal and post-natal point of view to mothers and children were deemed to be the institutions. There will be an annual report at the end of June. There will be a review to give it its best chance in early operation and then we will see where we go from there on the basis of that review. The figure of 6,200 applications is estimated, as the Deputy said herself. I appreciate how well informed and sincerely she feels regarding this issue of there being more than 34,000 people being eligible to apply. We will do all we can to ensure the maximum number of the 34,000 are in receipt of support.