Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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451. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when applications for the mother and baby institutions payment scheme will be open; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9211/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 415 and 451 together.

I am acutely aware of the sense of urgency surrounding the establishment of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme and I will do so within this quarter. I am also very conscious that many potential applicants to the Scheme are elderly, and 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.

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 preparation 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 concluded with representatives reviewing some of the application and information materials for the Scheme.
• To ensure efficiencies in application processing and payments, a blended operating model is being put in place which will provide for the Payment Scheme Executive Office to be supported by an experienced third party.
• The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is one element of a comprehensive package of support measures agreed by the Government as part of the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions. Other important measures contained in the Action Plan response include access to birth information provided through the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022, the intervention at the site of the former Tuam Mother and Baby Institution and the establishment of a National Centre for Research and Remembrance on the site of the former Magdalen Laundry on Sean McDermott Street.