Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was on the radio this morning immediately after the lady from the UN Committee against Torture and I noted she told us she read the summary, which is a short chapter at the start, but she had not read the rest of the report. It would be helpful if individuals internationally, as well as everyone at home, read the report in full. I could not be oblivious to the fact that much of the comment made yesterday, because everyone in this new media age is supposed to instantly have an opinion on everything, was comment made by people who could not possibly have read the report. I know how many hours it took me to read it from start to finish. I reiterate people should read the report.

I am very proud of the fact that this Government, at the initiative of myself and my good colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, established this inquiry. I had campaigned for a long time for the full story of the Magdalen laundries to be known. Previous Governments had not been prepared to have an inquiry. We owe a genuine debt of gratitude to Dr. Martin McAleese for the extraordinary work he did. It was very important it was an independent chairman and that was no doubt about the independence of the report and its absolute integrity. This was of crucial importance.

It should be fairly acknowledged that publication of the report by Dr. McAleese yesterday was a major step forward because for the first time we have a comprehensive authoritative account. Groups and individuals have campaigned, groups who resided in the laundries have been telling their stories and there have been various publications, but the report contains information which was not previously published. We now know that 26% of the residents found themselves in the homes as a result of State involvement. This means 74%, the majority of those who were resident, ended up being residents in the homes for other reasons. Tragically, some were put there by their own families. Others, because they were in difficult financial circumstances and destitute, sought to reside there themselves. Others were referred by well-meaning people who had nothing to do with the State. We also know the length of residence is not always as understood. The aspect of the story which had been told was the story of the many women who had been living in the laundries for many years, and quite clearly a number had this terrible experience. It was never really understood that 61% of the residents resided in the laundries for a year or less.

In the context of State involvement on the criminal justice side, out of the 10,000 approximate residents that Dr. McAleese could identify, in excess of 600 came through the criminal justice system. Some of these were individuals placed on remand by the courts and in this context the courts had the choice of whether they spent a few days or weeks in a prison or go to a Magdalen laundry. The report shows a number of individuals were there for a matter of days or a short few weeks. The people about whom we should be genuinely concerned, in the context of the Government and my Cabinet colleagues considering how we deal with this very important matter, are the individuals who spent extended periods of time in the laundries whose lives have been blighted by this experience who felt because they were resident in the laundries that in some way it was a stigma and something they could not share or tell anyone about. These are people about whom we all have very real concerns.

I know this is an issue about which Deputy O'Sullivan has had a genuine concern for some time, as I and the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, had and as had many people on both sides of the House. This is a first step in dealing with this issue. The Government will give very careful consideration to how we proceed in a manner that is sensitive and of assistance to those who had the terrible experience of being resident in the environment so well described by Dr. McAleese. I believe a very important contribution to the discussion will be made by Members of the House in the debate that will happen in two weeks' time.

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