Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This Commencement matter relates to the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023. I was hoping the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, would be here but, as I read the newspapers every day, I am aware he clearly has many pressing issues on his plate this morning. I understand and accept he cannot be with us but I am sorry that is the case.

I am seeking a clear timeline for the delivery of payments and other prescribed benefits for those who will qualify following the signing into law of the Act by the President on 11 July 2023. The Minister of State will be aware the mother and baby homes commission of investigation was chaired by Ms Yvonne Murphy. It was established in 2015 and reported in 2021, six years later. Some 59,000 mothers and 57,000 babies and children in the homes were reported on by the commission of investigation. Not all homes and institutions were included and neither were boarded-out children. The report's summary states: "The vast majority of children in the institutions were ‘illegitimate’ and, because of this, suffered discrimination for most of their lives." Unfortunately, that part of their journey has not yet come to a satisfactory conclusion as they await the opening of the mother and baby homes payment scheme and the full assessment of their applications.

The Act was passed through both Houses prior to the summer recess and prioritised for signing by the President. It was signed into law by him in mid-July having spent a year being debated by both Houses of the Oireachtas. I, along with many others, spent many hours scrutinising many provisions of the Bill during its passage. I acknowledge the Minister, who gave significant time and engagement to Members of both Houses. That was constructive and it is important to acknowledge it, as well as the work and commitment of his staff in ironing out many queries and difficulties as the legislation passed through the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Those who would benefit from the payment scheme and enhanced medical card are not getting any younger. Sadly, some of them have passed away, including in recent months. I acknowledge that the Minister's quarterly communication to survivors is ongoing. That is an important strand of communication and should continue, as his intention. I note a publication dated 9 October and available yesterday on gov.iestated the scheme will take several more months to be established. That is somewhat disappointing but those are the facts as presented and posted to gov.ieon 9 October. I ask the Minister to provide a timeline for when survivors can expect the payments and benefits they have been awaiting for so long.I would like to be able to give those answers to survivors who continue to correspond with me and my Seanad office. I visited the relevant section of gov.ielast night. The most recent post was on 9 October. In reply to the question, "Is the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme open for applications?", it states:

The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is not yet open for applications.

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Work is underway within the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to get the Scheme open for applications as soon as possible.

There is a sense of urgency to this. The Minister impressed upon us the importance of getting the legislation through the Houses. He insisted that he wanted to get it signed by the President and enacted. We should have some sort of indication of a timeline for when this process will be able to do what it is meant to do, namely, to provide a small measure of redress for people who grew up in these State institutions.