Just 1,300 payments have been made or are in the process of being made under the mother and baby homes redress scheme. That is out of 34,000 people who are eligible, not to mention the 24,000 who have been left out of the scheme. Today, I was made aware of a 91-year-old woman who is still waiting. She applied in March. The scheme has been open for six months. Older people were supposed to be prioritised. Another person contacted me earlier this week whose loved one passed away since applying. I ask that the Government looks at the payment scheme and system that is in place, fixes what is there and tries to speed up the payments to these survivors who have frankly been through enough. This needs to be fixed and this needs to be fixed quickly.

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue. The Government has brought forward the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, and rightly so. Applications opened in March. As of 16 September, 5,100 applications had come into the scheme, of which 4,400 were fully completed and have proceeded into the processing system. Approximately 2,700 notices of determination have been issued to applicants, of which more than 82% contain an offer of benefits under the scheme. Applicants have six months to consider the offer before they need to respond. Almost 1,400 payments are either processed and completed or are in the process of being made.

If the Deputy has specific instances, because I know how important that is to someone of advanced age, I ask her to please get the details to us. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, was here earlier for Leaders' Questions. It is important we work together on this scheme to make sure it works for people.