Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 February 2024
546. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on the estimated date for the opening of applications for the redress scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes, and the amount and grade of staff allocated to administering the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6574/24]
View answerI am acutely aware of the sense of urgency surrounding the establishment of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme and I am focused on opening it within this quarter.
The underpinning legislation for the Scheme - the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023 – was signed into law last July. This Act allows for the establishment of an Executive Office in my Department to oversee the Scheme and the appointment of the Chief Deciding Officer to head up that office, as well as the staff needed to support the performance of his or her functions.
In terms of staffing for Scheme delivery, following careful consideration of a number of important factors, including the need to open the Scheme as soon as possible and the ability to be responsive and scale up and down to meet Scheme demand, a blended operating model has been developed. This provides for the Chief Deciding Officer to be supported by a core Executive Office based in my Department and also by experienced third party support, appointed after a procurement process. This blended approach will facilitate efficiencies in application processing and payments, with of the order of 90 staff involved in the Scheme at the outset, scalable as necessary depending on applicant numbers at any given time.
All staff in the Executive Office, as well as the third party support team, will operate under the direction and supervision of the Chief Deciding Officer and a comprehensive training programme for all staff involved in Scheme administration is being delivered at present.
