Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sular leanfaidh mé ar aghaidh le mo cheist ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a thabhairt do teaghlach an oifigigh PSNI, Philippa Reynolds, a fuair bás oíche Dé Sathairn seo caite. I express our condolences to the family of the PSNI officer Philippa Reynolds, who was killed last Saturday night when her patrol car was hit by a stolen car. She was going about the business of protecting the community when that occurred.

The McAleese report documented evidence of the abuses and denials of human rights to women in the Magdalen laundries, and confirmed the State's complicity in the detention of these women and girls in a plethora of ways. Before that, the Ryan report detailed issues regarding forced unpaid labour, denial of liberty to women and the significant physical and emotional abuse which took place in the laundries. I was disappointed with the Taoiseach's initial response when an Teachta Mary Lou McDonald invited him to apologise to the Magdalen women, but I very much welcome his meeting yesterday with the survivors and his commitment to them to apologise on behalf of the State during next week's debate on the report. This is a very important step. The Government should consider also making a commitment to ensuring the future well-being of these women. Having met them, the Taoiseach will know that many of them are elderly. This should become a priority for the State. The issue of pensions should be resolved and an effective redress scheme should be put in place.

A number of laundries, including those in Dún Laoghaire, Galway, Stanhope Street and Summerhill in Wexford, were not included in Dr. McAleese's report, nor were the Bethany Homes, to which girls and young women were also sent by the State. The survivors of those institutions also suffered abuse and hardship. In addition to what I hope will be a watershed moment for the victims of the institutions whom the Taoiseach met, will the Government also undertake to investigate these other institutions and propose a solution that meets the survivors' needs?

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