Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach made the apologies and Mr. Justice Quirke carried out his investigation and submitted recommendations in relation to the Magdalen laundries. Women who were in the Magdalen laundries have applied for benefits under that scheme.

This morning, the Government, on my proposal, agreed to the publication of the scheme of a new Bill to provide for services and supports for women who worked in the Magdalen laundries. The purpose of this Bill is to make additional provision for access to health services, the exempting of payments which have been made by the State to these women from means-test criteria in respect of certain State services, for example, the fair deal scheme. It also provides for legal provision for relatives or other appropriate persons to act on behalf of any of the women who do not have the capacity to act on their own behalf. The heads of that legislation were agreed this morning. It is hoped it will be published and enacted soon.

I accept the point that there are some women who fall outside the scheme. In terms of the numbers of women who ended up in industrial schools, as I understand it the cross-over between industrial schools and the Magdalen laundries was 4%. As I said, the scheme is primarily for women who were in the laundries. The relevant institutions under the scheme are named. Obviously, we are in a different situation now with a new inquiry to be initiated following on from the Tuam situation.

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