I propose to take Questions Nos. 456, 457, 477, 478, 479, 480, 483 and 484 together.
As I have previously outlined to the Deputy, Government has approved the delivery of a package of ongoing supports to survivors of abuse in residential institutions such as industrial schools and reformatories. This package of supports builds upon the already significant response to this issue to date, which included the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme, the funding supports disbursed by Caranua and other initiatives.
The package of supports, which were initially approved by Government in June 2023, is comprised of a number of elements, including health, education and advocacy supports and other initiatives in the areas of housing and funeral costs.
Responsibility for the delivery of these supports rests with a number of Departments, agencies and other bodies.
My Department published information on the supports to be provided and opened to applications for the health and education supports, on Friday 6 March. This information can be found at www.gov.ie/survivorsupports and will be updated as appropriate.
Sage Advocacy has been engaged by my Department to deliver advocacy supports to survivors and it can be contacted via its website, www.sageadvocacy.ie, or by phone at 01 536 7330.
My Department is responsible for confirming eligibility for the health and education supports to be provided under the Support for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Act 2025, and for making payments under that Act.
To date, approximately 750 confirmation of eligibility applications have been received. My Department is engaging with applicants to either confirm that they are eligible or to otherwise progress their applications (for example, to request further necessary documentation).
Of these, approximately 650 have also submitted applications for health supports under the Act. These applications are being processed on an ongoing basis and my Department has begun to share relevant information with the HSE to enable the provision of specific medical cards to eligible survivors. While this is an operational matter for the HSE, I understand that it intends to begin issuing those cards to survivors very shortly.
In addition, approximately 550 applications for education support payments have also been received. Again, these are being processed on an ongoing basis by my Department and the related payments are being issued to applicants as quickly as possible.
Applicants are also being contacted to encourage them to submit health and education supports applications where they have not already done so.
With regard to applications for housing and funeral costs supports, these are a matter for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Social Protection respectively, so my Department does not hold any statistical information in that regard. These supports are being delivered through the local authorities and Community Welfare Offices.
