The Special Advocate for Survivors of Institutional Abuse has urged people who spent time in a range of institutions to contribute ideas for the establishment of a "site of remembrance" at the site of the last Magdalene laundry.
The deadline for survivors of institutions who would like to contribute to the setting up of a National Centre of Remembrance is Friday 19 September.
The centre is to be established on Seán McDermott Street in Dublin, the site of the last Magdalene laundry.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Patricia Carey said she hoped to hear from people who spent time in a "range of institutions - industrial schools, reformatory institutions, Magdalene laundries, Mother and Baby, and county homes".
"This site of conscience, or national centre for remembrance, is to remember and to look forward to what we can change about those institutional experiences.
"So, it's critical that those survivors are at the table when decisions are being made," she said.
Ms Carey said it is one of the redress measures arising from the "much maligned" Mother and Baby Commission of Inquiry "so that we can remember as a nation what happened to over 250,000 people who were in institutions".
She said the centre will include a museum managed by the National Museum of Ireland, and an archive that will bring together files and records.
Ms Carey said that access to records for those to whom the records relate is a "key priority and issue" for her.
She added that she also wants to establish an "advisory council" of people who experienced institutional abuse and were affected by "forced family separation".
"I am going to have a number of pillars for different institutions but also that people can come and talk to me and come together and support the work that I am doing in lobbying for change and for policy and legislative change."
'Low level' of take-up of redress scheme
Ms Carey said she is "disappointed" at the "low level" of take-up so far of the current redress scheme, which is around "17% of the 6,700 people who have made an application".
She said it is "incumbent" on the network of Irish embassies abroad, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and ministers to "really get the word out" that redress is available.
Ms Carey believes the reason the take-up of redress has been so low is because "the advertising has been misplaced".
"There was talk of having ads on social media, maybe on Instagram - that's not where survivors are.
"I think we need to go to places like libraries, community centres, doctors surgeries.
"We need to have static advertising that people can pick up something, not a QR code, not a portal...
"I'm concerned that we've moved too quickly into the digital age for people who may like to use pen and paper," Ms Carey said.
She also hopes the Government will extend the scheme for people who spent less than six months in a home or institution and are not currently eligible for redress, and that she is "equally concerned" about the institutions that are excluded.
"Every day I hear from people who are essentially re-traumatised because they say Taoiseach's apologies over the years are quite meaningless when they are then excluded from redress.
"And that's a further cause of upset to them and their families," she said.
