The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme will open for applications on 20 March.
In an update to survivors and former residents, the Minister Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, outlined the “key information” which will be required from those making an application.
There had been criticism from survivors over delays to the scheme being launched, however, in a statement Minister Roderic O’Gorman – who acknowledged that many survivors and former residents had been waiting for the news – said he committed to opening the scheme this quarter.
“Given its scale, time has been needed to get the structures in place to open the scheme and, as we approach the opening date, staff are continuing to work hard, to ensure that the process is as smooth as possible for applicants,” he said.
The payment scheme office will process all applications as quickly as possible, with the first payments expected to be made between April and June this year and older people will be prioritised as was promised according to the minister.
Minister O’Gorman has also announced the appointment of the former CEO of the Adoption Authority of Ireland Patricia Carey to the role of Special Advocate for Survivors following a recruitment campaign through the Public Appointments Service.
The role will see Ms Carey promoting “the collective interests of survivors, as expressed by them, and to amplify their voices as a central, essential input to Government deliberations on matters which affect them”.
The Special Advocate’s remit includes Mother and Baby Institutions, County Home Institutions, Magdalen Laundries, Industrial and Reformatory Schools, and related institutions, and those adopted, boarded out or the subject of an illegal birth registration.
“The appointment of a Special Advocate for Survivors fulfils a core commitment in the Government’s Action Plan, which recognises that the response of Government to the legacy of these institutions must be directly informed by the voices of those most centrally affected,” according to the Minister.
Ms Carey will take up the role at the end of March.
Read more: Is the government’s Mother-and-baby home redress scheme fair?
