Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity of speaking on this Private Members' motion on the Magdalen laundries. The Taoiseach should have apologised to these women last week on behalf of the State but also on behalf of the citizens of this country. There can be no equivocation or fudge on this very serious matter. The evidence in the report warrants that, and a scheme should be put in place to support redress. This happened in the past but the excuse can never be used that it was a different era. It was wrong, and when injustice happens it can never be stood over. Exploitation and bad treatment is always wrong. That is my clear position.

The facts in the McAleese report speak for themselves, and I commend Dr. Martin McAleese for his work on this issue. One woman told the committee that she had been subject to sexual abuse by an auxiliary. A significant number of women said that they had suffered sexual abuse in the family home as well. That is a societal issue that is still going on today.

A small number of the women reported physical punishment on at least one occasion. They stated that two ladies were standing there, not nuns but dressed in navy. One woman said she was left with those two, and having been made to remove her clothing and stand on a stool, she described being punched by one of them from one side to another. She said she was dizzy, and she told the women she was dizzy. She said they used to pull the girls' hair and box their faces. The woman described the harsh and physically demanding work, in some cases for many long hours. She said that some of them were only girls carrying out heavy and often gruelling work. I believe the Magdalen women and I support them. Every Member of the Oireachtas should support them.

There is another hidden story in regard to this issue. It is the story of people with intellectual disabilities who were in institutions, but I will deal with that on another day.

See this speech in context