Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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180. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will extend entitlement to the Health (Amendment) Act card to all survivors of industrial and reformatory schools, in recognition of the poorer health outcomes documented in survivor consultation reports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53207/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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181. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will establish a dedicated industrial and reformatory school survivors trust fund, ring-fenced and administered independently, to provide health, housing, and education supports for survivors and their families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53208/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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182. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the €500,000 allocated in 2009 for the creation of a national memorial to survivors of industrial and reformatory schools; if any expenditure has taken place to date; when a national memorial will be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53209/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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183. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will expedite proposals to provide a full contributory State pension to survivors of industrial and reformatory schools, on the same basis as pensions extended to Magdalene survivors, given that survivors were subjected to forced labour without social insurance contributions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53211/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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184. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will ensure that survivors of industrial and reformatory schools who reside abroad, particularly in the United Kingdom, will receive equal pension entitlements and supports as survivors resident in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53212/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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185. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review current access to medical and psychological supports for survivors of industrial and reformatory schools; if she will expand entitlements to include unlimited trauma counselling, psychiatric services, mobility aids, and access to the Treatment Purchase Fund, as proposed in the 2020 survivor-led consultation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53213/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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186. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a costing of introducing a contributory State pension and enhanced HAA medical card scheme for survivors of industrial and reformatory schools, based on the current estimated survivor population; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53215/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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187. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will confirm that ring-fenced funding will be allocated in Budget 2026 for survivor supports, including pensions, health entitlements, and the completion of a national memorial; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53216/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 to 187, inclusive, together.

In June 2023, the Government approved the provision of a package of supports to survivors of abuse in residential institutions, such as industrial schools and reformatories, comprised of ongoing health, education and advocacy supports.

While the provision of health and supports required the passage of legislation, in November 2023 the Department entered a grant funding arrangement with Sage Advocacy, a specialist independent advocacy organisation, to provide advocacy supports to survivors wishing to engage with other relevant services.

Government approved the legislation required to roll out health and education supports in April 2024 and the Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Act 2025 completed its passage through the legislative process in July 2025.

It is estimated that approximately 10,000 survivors who previously received an award of redress from the Residential Institutions Redress Board, or a similar court award or settlement, will be eligible for the supports provided under the Act. The provision of these supports marks a new phase in the State’s response to this issue and builds on previous initiatives including the establishment of a redress scheme, the provision of funding supports through Caranua and other supports and services.

The package of health supports and services which is provided for in this Bill will ensure survivors who are resident in the State will have access to a range of health supports through the HSE, including GP services, home nursing and home helps, chiropody and podiatry, and physiotherapy. This approach is consistent with the approach taken previously in respect of survivors and former residents of the Magdalen Laundries and Mother and Baby Institutions.

This entitlement will be for life and will not be subject to means-tests or periodic reviews.

Survivors living abroad will be able to avail of a payment of €3,000 in lieu of this package of supports, to support their health needs. This is the same approach taken in respect of the Mother and Baby Institutions.

With regard to the HAA card provided for under the Health (Amendment) Act 1996, it is important to note that this was introduced specifically to meet the very significant health needs of a particular group of individuals who had contracted a serious and life-threatening condition, i.e. individuals who had contracted Hepatitis C through the administration within the State of contaminated blood and blood products.

The Act also provides for the establishment of a new scheme involving the payment of cash grants ranging from €500 to €2,000 (depending on NFQ level and whether the course is full-time or part-time) to survivors who are engaging in further and higher education. This scheme will also ensure that survivors are not required to pay the Student Contribution Charge where this would otherwise apply.

My Department is finalising the administrative arrangements for the delivery of these supports and it is expected that they will be open for applications from survivors in the coming weeks. The required funding has been allocated to the Department in 2025 and funding for future years will be sought in accordance with established budgetary processes.

With regard to memorialisation, the Department of Education and Youth has, for a number of years, ring-fenced capital funding of €500,000 for the purpose of establishing a national memorial for children who were victims of abuse in residential institutions, which was one of the recommendations contained in the Final Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, the Ryan Report, published in 2009.

A number of previous initiatives to establish the memorial have been unsuccessful, due to both a lack of consensus regarding the nature of such a memorial and issues relating to planning. This included a proposal to develop a specific memorial integrated with the Garden of Remembrance.

As the Deputy will be aware, Government has approved proposals for the development of a National Centre for Research and Remembrance in Dublin 1. The Centre will be comprised of a number of elements including –

• a museum and exhibition space, the development of which will be led by the National Museum of Ireland;

• a research centre and repository of records related to institutional trauma in the 20th century, which will form part of the National Archives;

• a place for reflection and remembrance;

• social housing; and

• educational and community facilities.

The National Centre will stand as a site of conscience and will be a national memorial to honour equally all those who were resident in Industrial Schools, Magdalen Laundries, Mother and Baby Homes, Reformatories and related institutions. This will reflect the connections between those institutions while also fulfilling the Government’s commitment to establish a national memorial in response to the recommendation of the Ryan Report.

With regard to pensions, it is acknowledged that some survivors have sought the provision of a pension-type payment similar to that provided to survivors of the Magdalen Laundries, and this matter was discussed in detail during the passage of the Act. However, it should be noted that those payments reflect the very particular circumstances involved, where the women were engaged, as adults, in some cases for many years, in commercial work without pay or the required social insurance contributions.