Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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It is not possible to comment on a specific individual's potential eligibility for benefits under the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme. It may be helpful to note that the Scheme will be straightforward and non-adversarial, and will provide benefits to applicants based on time spent in an institution without any requirement to bring forward evidence of abuse or harm.

I am acutely aware of the urgency in opening the Scheme and I am very conscious that many potential applicants to the Scheme are elderly. In that regard I made provision in the underpinning legislation for the Scheme that priority may be given to an application depending on the applicant’s circumstances, including their age and their health.

This Payment Scheme will be the largest scheme of its type in the history of the State with an anticipated 34,000 people eligible for its benefits. Given its scale and significance the Scheme has been placed on a statutory footing and enabling legislation was signed into law last July. A comprehensive body of work has been undertaken to develop the substantial administrative framework required to deliver a scheme of this size and the Payment Scheme will open in Q1 this year.