Mother and Baby Homes

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 January 2025

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Wednesday, 22 January 2025

Questions (1263, 1264)

Natasha Newsome Drennan

Question:

1263. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of people in total still awaiting a decision on their application to the mother and baby home's institutions payment scheme; the number of people waiting for an appeal decision; the number of decisions pending; the number of people that have applied to the scheme since its inception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1595/25]

Natasha Newsome Drennan

Question:

1264. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount of money in total paid out to date on successful applications to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme; the reasons for declining applications; the length of time on average appeals are taking, including the longest appeal time to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1596/25]

Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1263 and 1264 together.

The Deputy has sought some statistics pertaining to the operation of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme which I provide here up to 31 December 2024.

Applications received	Decisions	Awaiting decision	Reviews	Review decision pending	Average review time	Total Payments made or in process of being made
5,997*	5,031	341	433	357	105 days	€55 million

Note: 

* A number of these applications were ineligible or were withdrawn and 420 are incomplete applications.  In those 420 cases, applicants are being supported by the Payment Scheme Office in order to provide the outstanding information required so that their application can move forward. This could be, for example, a supporting document such as certified photo ID.

The Deputy has asked about appeals, of which there have been just 9 to date.  In the Scheme, if an applicant is dissatisfied with a decision on their application, they first may request a review - and only after a review, they may request an appeal.  As such, I have provided the data pertaining to reviews on the basis that I believe this is the information essentially sought by the Deputy.

Requesting a review (or indeed an appeal) is a very straightforward process for the applicant but it rightly triggers a very comprehensive assessment of all aspects of the application within the Payment Scheme Office. Ultimately a detailed report is prepared, followed by a thorough quality-check process before it is provided, together with the decision, to the applicant. The timeline for reviews is slower than I would like but is now decreasing as improvements in processes in the Payment Scheme Office take hold. Staff there are constantly working to improve the applicant experience and reduce processing times for each stage of an application, taking on board feedback from survivors and other stakeholders, while upholding the integrity of the Scheme through proper and robust validation processes. It is ultimately the aim of the Payment Scheme Office to ensure the correct award amount is paid to the correct applicant in as timely a manner as possible.

Question No. 1264 answered with Question No. 1263.

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