Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Minister on one point, which is people throughout the country expected much more from the religious congregations. I do not believe they should be given a bye ball on the basis they have co-operated with access to records and gave Dr. McAleese full co-operation. One would expect no less given the scenario and what was being investigated. Unlike the Minister I do not find response disappointing; I find it despicable and unacceptable.

What does the Minister propose to do? It is all very well for him to hope the congregations will reflect on their decision. Rather more than this is required. It needs to be stated very plainly to these congregations that the women and girls of the Magdalen laundries - and they were laundries and not homes - were abused comprehensively, that the State has acknowledged its involvement in this abuse and that the congregations themselves bear a moral, ethical and social duty to pay into a very modest compensation fund.

What will the Minister do? It would be a travesty of the most basic sense of justice for a Government and Cabinet which agree the congregations need to come forward and contribute to the fund to stand back and laud the same congregations for basic levels of co-operation in respect of documentation with which any reasonable decent person would simply expect them to come forward. What will the Minister do now? He has clearly been given the brush-off by the congregations. Surely he is not considering for a second this will be the end of the matter. I want to hear more than an appeal for reflection. We need to see action and see these congregations finally do a very modest, but very decent, thing.

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