78. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will expand the mother and baby institutions payment scheme to include survivors who are currently excluded. [65898/26]

The Department of Children is responsible for overseeing the administration of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme. It must do this in line with the legislative scope and intent of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act, as enacted by the Oireachtas. Its eligibility criteria include what institutions are included in the scheme and time spent in any of those institutions.

The institutions included in the Scheme were those that were identified by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation as having a main function of providing sheltered and supervised ante and post-natal facilities to single mothers and their children.

Chapter 2 of the Social History section of the Commission of Investigation report - www.gov.ie/en/publication/89e43-chapter-2-institutions/ - details the different types of institutions that existed and whether they could be considered Mother and Baby Institutions.

The non-adversarial Payment Scheme acknowledges circumstances experienced while resident in a Mother and Baby institution and the associated conditions, shame and stigma endured.

An additional 170 people have applied for the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme since the launch of a nationwide public awareness campaign on 24 August. This is a welcome increase and represents a 360% or fourfold increase in the weekly rate of applications, from an average of 14 per week prior to the launch of the campaign to 58 in the first week of the campaign.

It brings the number of applicants to the scheme to almost 7,600, with over 5,500 payments made under the scheme so far.

The Scheme has recorded marked increases in applications, calls to its new confidential Freephone service, requests for paper application forms and online enquiries.

The 12-week campaign is running across national and local print, radio, digital and social media. This phase builds on previous awareness-raising efforts undertaken since the Scheme launched in March 2024. The Scheme remains open for applications until 2029.

I acknowledge that some survivors are not eligible for the Scheme and are disappointed by this. However, it should be noted that the Payment Scheme is just one of a large suite of actions being undertaken to respond to the legacy of these institutions under the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions.

For those who spent shorter periods of time in institutions as young children, the overwhelming priority need which has been expressed by survivors has been access to records. To date, under the Birth Information and Tracing Act, the Adoption Authority of Ireland and Tusla have completed over 18,700 applications for information.

Other actions in the Action Plan include the provision of counselling supports, the representation of survivor issues by the Special Advocate, both already in place, as well as the ongoing development of a National Centre for Research and Remembrance.