Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Opening the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme as soon as possible is a priority for me and my Department. The underpinning legislation for the Scheme, signed into law in July this year, allows for the establishment of an Executive Office in my Department to administer the Scheme and the appointment of the Chief Deciding Officer to head up that office. It also allows for the making of the necessary regulations which must be in place prior to the Scheme opening and provides a lawful basis for access to information and records which are essential for the processing of applications.

Intensive work is underway to establish the administrative structures needed to open the Scheme but this will take a number more months. Following careful consideration of a number of important factors, including the need to open the Scheme as soon as possible and the ability to be responsive and scale up and down to meet Scheme demand, a blended operating model is being developed. This will provide for the Executive Office to be supported by an experienced third party which will facilitate efficiencies in application processing and payments. To this end, my Department is currently concluding a tendering process with a preferred bidder that has been identified following a procurement process.

In accordance with the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act, all staff in the Executive Office, as well as the third party support team, will operate under the direction and supervision of the Chief Deciding Officer and a comprehensive training programme for all staff involved in the Scheme is being developed.

A choice of hard copy or online application form will be made available to applicants. The Department recently made a call to survivors and former residents who may be interested in being part of a stakeholder reference group to provide feedback on the draft application and communication materials for the Scheme, and a very positive response was received.

An information awareness campaign will take place in Ireland and abroad at the time of the Scheme opening. Applicants will be supported throughout the process with information and advice if they need it. I would encourage any person who thinks they may be eligible for the Scheme to make an application at that time.