Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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526. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 135 of 14 December 2023 and 65 of 7 November 2023, when the mother and baby institutions redress scheme will be open for applications; the timeline for when payments will be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2719/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Mother and Baby Institutions 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. This work includes:

• the making of the necessary regulations which must be in place prior to the Scheme opening;
• making arrangements for the staffing necessary to deliver the Scheme;
• Developing a comprehensive training programme for all staff involved in the Scheme;
• Developing hard copy and online application systems;
• Developing the case management IT infrastructure for the Scheme;
• Preparing for a substantive public awareness campaign to be delivered in Ireland and overseas. To this end, a recent stakeholder engagement process for the Payment Scheme has just concluded with representatives reviewing some of the application and information materials for the Scheme.