Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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261. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the progress that has been made under the commitments set out in An Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45223/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Since I published the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions last November, there has been consistent progress in implementing its key commitments. Of the 22 actions, 8 have been completed while another 12 are currently in progress.

Key achievements include:

Dedicated professional counselling support continues to be available nationwide with priority access to services for survivors.

I also established a dedicated Information Management Unit within my Department, with a professional archivist, to manage the Commission of Investigation's archive of records and support access for individuals to their personal information.

My Department has made significant progress on the legislative commitments made to survivors in the Action Plan.

The Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 was signed into law by President Higgins on 30 June. I commenced the first parts of the Act on 1 July with the establishment of the Contact Preference Register and the launch of a comprehensive Public Information Campaign. On 12 September 2022, I signed the Order paving the way for Birth Information and Tracing Services to be available from 3 October. This long awaited piece of legislation conclusively addresses the wrongful denial of people’s identity rights.

The Institutional Burials Act 2022 came into effect on 15 July and Government has approved my proposal, under the legislation, to establish an independent Office to lead an intervention at the site of the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam, Co. Galway. A draft Order directing this intervention has been laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas for approval.

The General Scheme of a Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill to provide financial payments and a form of enhanced medical card to eligible applicants was published in March. Pre-Legislative Scrutiny was undertaken by the Joint Oireachtas Committee, and the report of this process was published in July. It is my intention to bring the Bill to Government seeking publication and introduction to the Houses of the Oireachtas early in the autumn term. In parallel with the legislative process, my Department is working on the administrative arrangements needed to operate the Scheme.

On 29 March, Government approved high-level proposals for a National Centre for Research and Remembrance on the site of the former Magdalen Laundry in Sean McDermott St. in Dublin city centre. A project Steering Group and a number of working groups have been established to oversee the project and advance its constituent elements. In July, Dublin City Council voted to transfer the site to the Office of Public Works, marking another step towards the development of this important national site of conscience. It is anticipated that initial conservation and structural works will commence on site before year end.

With regard to local memorialisation initiatives, my Department continues to offer funding to survivor-centred advocacy groups who wish to organise local commemorative events. My colleague, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, established a working group to develop central guidance to assist local authorities in providing services and facilitating local memorialisation in line with the wishes of survivors. A consultative process with survivor advocacy groups and representatives, led by independent facilitators, was conducted to inform the group's work.

In addition to an annual progress report, which will be laid before the Houses towards the end of the year, my Department continues to prepare quarterly progress updates. On 31 May, the second of these updates was issued directly to every person who has provided their contact information to my Department's dedicated mailing list. The third update is due to be published at the end of this month and will also be published on my Department's website.