Victims of institutional child abuse will be invited to give their views on how a compensation agency due to be set up by the Government should operate.
The views of victims' groups are to be canvassed within the next few weeks by the Department of Education, which announced earlier this month that it would establish compensation machinery.
It is understood victims' groups will be asked for their opinions on how the agency might be established and operate, as well as the possible methods of paying compensation.
The Department is exploring methods of compensating people who may, through illness, alcohol or drug abuse, be unable to handle large sums of money. This could take the form of regular payments for a person's life. Another possibility is that victims would have a "menu" of options of payment methods to choose from.
The compensation body, which is not expected to begin work until next summer, will make awards to people who suffered abuse while resident in State institutions or religious-run schools.
The cost to the State of compensating victims is difficult to quantify, but some official estimates put the figure at up to £100 million.
Legal sources expect awards from such a compensation agency are likely to range from between £5,000 and £30,000 for survivors of physical abuse to more than £100,000 for exceptional cases of severe emotional and physical trauma.
The Government's plan to set up a body to compensate abuse victims has been broadly welcomed by victims' groups. However, the exclusion of day pupils in ordinary primary and post-primary schools from the compensatory scheme has angered solicitors representing some victims.
Mr James MacGuill, a member of an ad-hoc group of solicitors with some 1,200 clients, said the exclusion of day pupils was "a terribly mean-spirited, cost-cutting exercise".
It is understood the thinking behind the restriction of the compensation scheme to residents only is that these children were removed from the normal protection of their families and put in care supervised by the State. This meant the State had a special duty of care towards them.
Meanwhile, two outreach workers funded by the Department of Health will be appointed in London and Coventry within the coming weeks to assist survivors living in the UK to access the compensation agency, and also the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse, which is hearing evidence of the abuse.
That commission was set up following revelations over abuses in State institutions and religious-run schools in the States of Fear RTE documentary series last year.