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

The Irish Human Rights Commission and the Committee Against Torture of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have raised the continuing failure to investigate abuse in Magdalen laundries. There are many connections between mother and baby homes, industrial schools and Magdalen laundries. Justice for Magdalenes is an organisation that works with survivors of the Magdalen laundries and it submitted 793 pages of survivor testimony to the McAleese committee. However, none of this appeared in the report because the committee's terms of reference related to State involvement with the institutions. As the Minister pointed out, the committee did this but unanswered questions remain. We now have an opportunity to collate the evidence and testimonies and get things right in order that there can be real closure.

The investigations will require experts in archival work and historians. Having conducted investigations, some county councils said certain material did not exist but the material was subsequently found by historians. I thank the Minister and hope he gives this serious consideration.

See this speech in context