Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that informative response. I will comment on three elements. Regarding the eligibility of those applicants who are overseas and outside the State, it is likely that many of them may be living in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and places like that. It is critically important that this message regarding eligibility is disseminated and that to do so we tap into our connections with the diaspora, as well as making contact through our embassy. We have an amazing network of Irish support groups across the UK and it is also critically important this message is got out to them.

There may also be issues regarding the conditionality of the €3,000 payment. The Minister does not have time to talk this through with us now, but I will be interested to hear more about this aspect at some stage. My request now, however, is that we reach out to the Irish who have gone abroad and are now living in other communities across the UK, Europe, America and Australia. I thank the Minister for his response again, which was informative and brought us up to date.

I reiterate that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is seeking submissions regarding the general scheme of the mother and baby institutions payment scheme Bill. The deadline stated for submissions is 1 p.m., and not 5 p.m. strangely, on Friday, 6 May 2022. This is extremely important. Email submissions should be made to MBIPS@oireachtas.ie. I again thank the Minister for coming to the House and for his ongoing work in this important area.