Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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84. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of women who have received the maximum amount of compensation afforded under the restorative justice scheme for the survivors of the Magdalene laundries. [5096/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under the Scheme the women are eligible for a lump sum payment of between €11,500 and €100,000 depending on length of stay in a relevant institution.

Of the 498 applicants who have received their lump sums paid so far, 72 will receive the maximum amount of €100,000. As recommended by Judge Quirke, these women receive a maximum initial lump sum payment of €50,000 and the balance of their lump sum in excess of €50,000 is paid by weekly instalments in order to provide an income spread over a longer period.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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85. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of women who have accepted lesser amounts than they applied for under the restorative justice scheme for the survivors of the Magdalene laundries. [5097/15]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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86. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applicants under the restorative justice scheme for the survivors of the Magdalene laundries who have received lesser amounts than they applied for because of inaccurate and-or missing records. [5098/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 86 together.

If an applicant receives a lump sum payment she has agreed with the assessment made by my officials and has signed an acceptance form to that effect. I can also advise the deputy that in the vast majority of cases the applicants are availing of independent legal advice with regard to accepting the offer and my department is facilitating this by providing a payment of up to €500 + VAT towards the cost of obtaining legal advice.

The processing of all applications starts off on the premise that the testimony of the applicant is correct and the officers processing the application then seek to verify the application by checking appropriate records. If there are records and they are consistent with the application, then an offer is made. If there is a discrepancy, or in cases where the religious congregations have incomplete or no record for an applicant my officials must carry out a thorough examination, checking whatever records are available from other departments, agencies and institutions to support the application. The records of the religious congregations are not regarded as decisive, they are just one factor that is taken into consideration.

In some instances, applicants will have a very clear recollection and records will be found to confirm their recollection.

In other instances applicants may have difficulty in recollecting details and may be mistaken about the institution they were in and also about the period of time they were there. This is not surprising as we could be talking about events that happened 50, 60 or 70 years ago.

The Deputy will also be aware that for cases where there is insufficient documentary evidence to make a determination as to whether an applicant was in a relevant institution and for what period of time my officials have commenced a process whereby those women are given the opportunity to meet with my officials and provide oral testimony about their time in an institution. These meetings are proving to be informative and productive.

Each application is assessed on an individual basis taking into account any available records or documents as well as the applicant's testimony. The Deputy will also be aware that if the applicant disagrees with this assessment she can avail of an internal review process and also an independent appeal process which involves a review by Ombudsman's Office.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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87. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applications made under the restorative justice scheme for the survivors of the Magdalene laundries that have been rejected. [5099/15]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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88. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applications made under the restorative justice scheme for the survivors of the Magdalene laundries that have been rejected because of inaccurate and-or missing records. [5100/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 87 and 88 together.

Some 94 applications have been refused as they were not in one of the 12 specified institutions.

If there is a discrepancy with regard to a record, or in cases where the religious congregations have incomplete or no record for an applicant my officials must carry out a thorough examination, checking whatever records are available from other departments, agencies and institutions to support the application. For cases where there are missing records or no records available my officials have commenced a process whereby those women are given the opportunity to meet with my officials and provide oral testimony about their time in an institution. These meetings are proving to be informative and productive.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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89. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if the restorative justice scheme for the survivors of the Magdalene laundries has been advertised in Ireland’s Own magazine, as promised by her. [5101/15]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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90. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if her Department has alerted Irish embassies to the existence of the restorative justice scheme for the survivors of the Magdalene laundries. [5102/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 and 90 together.

The Deputy will be aware that the Scheme attracted world wide media coverage. In addition, at my request the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade circulated an information note on the Scheme through their embassies around the world to the local Irish communities in late October 2014.

My officials contacted the Ireland's Own publication in October 2014 and asked them to consider publishing an article about the Scheme. A follow-up request was sent to the publication and the editor has advised that they plan to publish an article providing information on the scheme in the very near future.

The Deputy will also be interested to note that the Irish Women Survivors Support Network in the UK has also circulated thousands of newsletters to the wider Irish community informing them of the Scheme and they continue to raise awareness and assist clients in this regard.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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91. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if, following her communications with the Minister for Health and her officials' communications with the Health Service Executive, she will unequivocally confirm that survivors of the Magdalene laundries will be provided with a physical card, either a HAA card or a RWRCI card, under the Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Act 2015, once it is passed into law. [5105/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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It will be a matter, for the Health Service Executive to decide on the practical arrangements, such as a type of card, to be put in place in order to ensure that the women can easily demonstrate their eligibility for services under this legislation. One operational possibility is that an RWRCI card, based on the name of the legislation, may be issued to the qualifying women. Final decisions will be made when the legislation is enacted.