A REDRESS scheme for survivors of Ireland’s brutal mother and baby homes will open next month it was confirmed today.
Ireland’s Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman has revealed the date when the long-awaited scheme will open for applications is March 20.
“I am pleased to confirm that the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme will open in a matter of weeks, on 20 March,” he said.
“I had committed to opening the Scheme this quarter and I know that many survivors and former residents have been waiting for this news,”: he added.
“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.”
The government has confirmed that once open, the Payment Scheme Office will process all applications as “quickly as possible”, with the first payments expected to be made in the second quarter of the year.
“As promised, the Scheme will give priority to applications according to the age of the applicant, and so applications from older people will be prioritised,” Mr O’Gorman added.
The Minister has also advised the key information that survivors will need to supply in order to make a successful application to the scheme.
This includes basic information, such as contact details, and confirmation that they spent time in one of the institutions covered by the Scheme.
Applicants do not need to supply records documenting time spent in a mother and baby or county home.
It was further announced today that Patricia Carey has been appointed to the role of Special Advocate for Survivors.
The role of is designed to “promote 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 Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth confirmed.
The Special Advocate’s remit will encompass 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.
Further information about applying to the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is available here.