Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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592.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when applicants to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme can expect to receive the payment;; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24583/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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As the Deputy is aware, the independent Executive Office administering the Mother and Baby Payment Scheme assesses each application to the Scheme individually. The time taken to process an application and issue a payment following a determination is subject to many factors including the submission of a complete application, the submission of necessary documentation, the performing of records searches, and the engagement of the individual applicant with the process as necessary.

However, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that, following the opening of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme on 20 March, the first offers of awards under the Scheme were made in April, while the first payments were made and the first medical cards were issued in May.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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593.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of applications received to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24584/24]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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594.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of applications that are projected to be received to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24585/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 593 and 594 together.

The Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions contains 22 commitments to survivors, intended to address the expressed priorities of those who spent time in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions, as well as respond to the findings and recommendations of the Commission of Investigation.

The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is a centrepiece of the Action Plan. It opened to applications on 20 March and will provide financial payments to an estimated 34,000 people over its lifetime, some 19,000 of whom will also benefit from an enhanced medical card or health support payment. These benefits are in recognition of experiences while resident in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions. The overall cost of the Payment Scheme is estimated at €800 million.

To date, over 3,600 applications have been received for the Scheme. The first offers of awards issued in April and the first payments were made under the Scheme in May.

The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is just one aspect of the overall package of supports and measures set out in the Government’s Action Plan. Other important measures 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, the appointment of a Special Advocate for Survivors, and the establishment of a National Centre for Research and Remembrance on the site of the former Magdalen Laundry on Sean McDermott Street.

The Action Plan seeks to provide an inclusive, comprehensive and enduring response to the priority needs of all survivors. Importantly, this package also includes counselling services which are available to all survivors and former residents.