Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

To a large extent the report confirms what we knew already, and what we knew was that approximately 10,000 women entered these Magdalen laundries from the time of the foundation of the State up to 1996 when the last one closed. We know that the State was involved in almost every aspect of the life of these laundries. For instance, there is evidence that it was involved in the routes by which the girls and women entered these laundries, the inspections of the laundries, State funding and assistance to the laundries, and the route by which the women and girls left the laundries, as well as debt registration and burials. The State was involved in every aspect of these laundries.

The story of these laundries over the years has been one of silence, shame and secrecy, and it is time to turn that around. We need to say that we believe the women. We know the women were lonely and frightened in these laundries, and their stories have been forgotten for far too long. The question of stigma arises for the women who were in the laundries. That was very hurtful to them and their families. There is also the question of the harsh and physically demanding work in the laundries, and the impact of the undoubted psychological trauma arising from that experience. There is no doubt that the State must now offer an apology to these women and put in place a transparent and non-adversarial compensation process which covers wages, pensions and a redress scheme.

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