Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

Neither the Magdalen laundries or the mother and baby homes are funded by the Department of Education and Skills. They are not under the aegis of the Department, are not inspected by the Department, nor were they. The work on the Magdalen laundries was led by the Department of Justice and Equality. I am not personally accountable for that to this committee, however, I do see what the Deputy is saying in terms of the joined-up nature of the impact and the role of the State in relation to all of these. In each case the State engaged with the people who had been in the various places. For example, in the Magdalen laundries there was the McAleese report which was followed by Mr. Justice Quirke's recommendations. The State worked that through. On the commission on mother and baby homes, we are all finding the horrific nature of what went on very difficult to see as we learn about it on the news and in official meetings. That is why the Government has established a commission. I would not say that the State is avoiding dealing with these, but I would say that it is not my responsibility to talk about the role of the State here in that regard.