Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Táim buíoch as an deis labhairt ar an ábhar seo anocht agus as deis a fháil ceisteanna a chur agus, tá súil agam, freagraí a fháil. I am grateful that this topic has been chosen tonight.

The time for speeches is over and I will not be making a speech as such. I will be as brief as I can be.

The Department of Justice and Equality stated on 25 June last, as reported on 21 October in a newspaper, that the Government, on 25 June, approved the immediate implementation of a cash lump-sum payment scheme based on duration of stay in laundries recommended by Mr. Justice John Quirke and tasked an interdepartmental group with giving further detailed consideration to the steps necessary to implement the other recommendations, some of which are complex and will require legislation. The Department stated that more than 150 applications had been received and were being processed and that it was expected that the first offers of payment of a lump sum would issue within four to six weeks of the Government decision. That was similar to the reply I received from the Minister in September to a question.

I will make one point before I ask the question. Since the apology of February last two of the ladies from the laundries have passed away and as of today, Tuesday, 5 November, no woman who has been in a laundry has received the lump-sum payment or any other entitlement.

I noted that the Minister for Finance stated in the Budget Statement that the lump sums would be tax free. I would have assumed that such was a given.

We all have feelings of compassion and understanding of what went on in the laundries. I acknowledge that under this Government more has been progressed than at any other time but I want to know about the Government decision. Has it been made? If not, when will it be made so that one can then count the four to six weeks from that decision. That is the basic question I want to put to the Minister and I would prefer to use the time for his reply.

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