Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is a strong Bill and Sinn Féin supports it. The fund was established for an important purpose. In many respects, it was the least the State could do in light of its responsibilities. Is dócha go raibh dualgas faoi leith ar an Stát aitheantas a thabhairt do na fir agus na mná sin agus don chruatan agus don fhulaingt a d'fhulaing siad; aitheantas a thabhairt do sin agus cúnamh a thabhairt do dhaoine agus iad ag éirí níos sine.

Before I speak to the specifics of the Bill I point out, as other contributors to this debate have done, that the State has a very poor legacy in terms of its record of care and child protection. We have seen evidence of this in the last week or so. The State initially absolved itself of responsibility for the care of vulnerable persons, including children, people with mental illness and other categories of people.

I want to use this opportunity to express my dismay in regard to a statement on behalf of the Government which I recently came across. On 15 February, at the UN Convention of Equality Against Women in Geneva a representative from the Department of Justice and Equality stated that Taoiseach made an apology to the survivors of the Magdalen laundries and did so despite the fact that in the McAleese report there was no finding that the State had any liability. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, repeated this on the Dáil record in the not too distant past. Paragraph 2 of the McAleese report states:

This Report has established that approximately 10,000 women are known to have entered a Magdalene Laundry from the foundation of the State in 1922 until the closure of the last Laundry in 1996. Of the cases, 26.5% were referrals made or facilitated by the state.

This means that, whether the State accepts legal liability or not, it was directly responsible for over 2,000 of those cases. In my view, the State is not telling the truth and it is also being quite insulting to those women. The Quirke report recommended establishing a dedicated unit, with the purpose of establishing a permanent memorial dedicated to the women and children of the Magdalen laundries. This was agreed four years ago but it is yet to happen. I ask the Minister, Deputy Bruton, to raise that issue and to ensure that does happen.

As we speak, the State is dragging two women through the courts in regard to their exclusion from the redress scheme in regard to the Magdalen laundries despite the fact that they endured forced labour simply because they slept in another campus, namely, An Grianan. That is wrong. The State should withdraw its challenge to the case they are making rather than drag these women through further hardship. There have been many strong points made in regard to this Bill. The purpose of the fund is vitally important but there are many instances of maladministration and of people being refused vitally important services such as counselling and as mentioned earlier funding for appropriate bedding and so on. The scheme and the fund need to be improved. I hope the Minister will take on board the points made by the proposers of this Bill and the other Deputies who have contributed to this debate and that the fund and Caranua will be expanded. This is about recognition to some extent but there is also a responsibility on the State to ensure that the hardships suffered by the people who lived in these institutions is not repeated and that their later lives can be more comfortable and secure. The State has a responsibility to ensure that happens.

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