Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue. It is a matter of urgency that the matter before us is addressed. We are simply seeking to have an acknowledgement from all Members of the House that supports must be put in place urgently for the aging survivors of the Magdalene laundries. Thereafter, we must have an open and meaningful debate on the issues of an apology, redress and restorative justice.

We will never know the full story of the injustices, suffering and sheer torment experienced by the women and girls incarcerated in the Magdalene laundries. This injustice was exacerbated and compounded by their exclusion from the residential institutions redress scheme. The Magdalene laundries and Bethany homes are another dark chapter in the litany of abuses perpetuated on the women of Ireland by the churches with State complicity, yet no apology has been forthcoming from the State for the terror inflicted on the women in question. It is astonishing that not one representative of the Government Departments and statutory bodies which had a hand in ensuring the involuntary servitude of women has ever felt the need to apologise. The State was complicit in the Magdalene laundries and questions remain about the role of the Garda Síochána, which returned Magdalene runaways to the laundries by the hair on their heads. Notwithstanding this, the Government sees fit to inform the House that an interdepartmental committee is examining the issue.

I am not a spokesperson for the Magdalene women but someone who believes in justice. I am also an elected representative who has a role in holding the Government to account. The Government's approach is not good enough. Having spent years and in some cases decades in incarceration, slaving, cleaning and toiling to keep religious orders as profitable industries, the Magdalene survivors are spending the rest of their lives shamed and stigmatised by a State that did not care. Many of them are elderly and suffering ill health as a result of the treatment they experienced. There are at least 30,000 Magdalene survivors.

It is a tragedy of epic proportions that no member of the religious orders and no representative of the State has been held to account for the torture inflicted on what were described as "fallen women". Even today, questions need to be asked about the religious orders and their motivations. Two of the religious congregations which ran the Magdalene laundries, the Good Shepherd Sisters and Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, receive funding from the Departments of Justice and Equality and Health to work with women involved in prostitution, while other organisations which promote women's rights have had their funding slashed. One could be forgiven for asking if it is still the official view of the State that there are fallen women out there. Both of the religious congregations to which I referred have refused to meet the Justice for Magdalenes group, yet we are expected to believe it is appropriate that they are entrusted with caring for and advocating on behalf of vulnerable women.

It is interesting that the State was run for decades on the basis of a Constitution framed around God and Christian values. The way in which the Magdalene institutions were run, ignored by the apparatus of the State, could not be further from the teachings of Christ. The Magdalene laundries were evil. What we had in this State were anti-Christian institutions posturing as Christians. Not only did they turn a blind eye to the disgusting enslavement of women and children, they also preached moral values to others, upheld conservative, right-wing establishment politics, and told people to keep their heads down and not question educated professionals.

The answer they have for our people is so profound but they could not have been further away from the teachings of Christ. Each and every one of them should be ashamed of themselves. The institutions which covered this up and utilised religion and Christ's teachings to enslave and hold our people down should be ashamed of themselves too. I have had the honour of knowing genuine Christians who served overseas on the missions and defended oppressed people. They too were let down and failed by their hierarchy. This is the great shame of an institution which used the teachings of Christ to oppress their people and support institutions of government to do likewise. Shame on anyone who was involved in that and calls themselves a Christian.

Those of us who actually have a faith in Christ need to have these conversations. We are ashamed of those institutions which used Christ's name to uphold disgusting acts, to defend right-wing, conservative politics and to oppress our people for decades. It is high time this issue was resolved with the obfuscation and stalling ended. We know what happened in the Magdalene laundries was slavery and is a black stain on our people's conscience. The Government must do the right thing and put in place the procedures for justice. We can then wait for the report of Senator McAleese, in whom we all have great faith.

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