Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil supports this Bill, which will provide certain health services to women who were resident in the Magdalen laundries and in similar laundries operated at St. Mary's training centre, Stanhope Street, Dublin 7, and the House of Mercy training school, Summerhill, Wexford. We welcome the fact that the Bill also provides that such women will not be required to pay the statutory charge for public acute hospital inpatient services, and that the ex gratiapayments will not be included in the financial assessment of means under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009. However, Fianna Fáil is greatly concerned that the Magdalen laundries have been excluded from the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes which the Government is establishing this week.

It has been stated, and I tend to agree, that the mother and baby homes and Magdalen laundries were both a part of Ireland's architecture of containment of so-called problem women and girls and, as such, should be investigated under the same commission of investigation. Similarly, the proposals as outlined do not fully reflect the recommendations outlined by Mr. Justice Quirke, whose proposals included full pension rights for those affected and the granting of a medical card similar to that given to State-infected hepatitis C survivors under the HAA card scheme. This is a shame, in our opinion, and, indeed, a lost opportunity. Let us not forget why this Bill is before the House today. The inhumane conditions of work, the de factoslave labour status of women, and the gross unfairness of their indefinite incarceration in the laundries mark a grave breach of the human rights and dignity of the women involved.

Evidence already in the public domain definitely reveals that the Irish State colluded in the operation of the laundries, as the justice system sent women into them and State agencies, such as hospitals, employed the laundries. The courts, too, sent women to the laundries, with some 26% of entries via the State system, while gardaí returned runaways from the institutions. The system was evidently not a voluntary mechanism. The State failed the women involved by failing to implement effective supervision of the laundries, uphold its own health and safety standards, or provide for their education and social welfare rights.

We in Fianna Fáil have already acknowledged the failures of all who participated in public life and did not act to intervene. Earlier consideration should have been given to this issue and there is no doubt that the women of the Magdalen laundries deserved earlier intervention. We have already stated that steps should have been taken earlier to give an apology such as that made by the Taoiseach.

The process outlined by the Taoiseach at the time of his apology gave great hope to the women who survived the Magdalen laundries. The publication of the report by Mr. Justice Quirke and the Government's acceptance in full of all the recommendations contained in it was greatly welcomed by survivors' groups and all parties in this House. The Government proposed that the specific proposals be discussed with the survivors and that a comprehensive package be agreed to and passed in legislation. The current legislation we are debating arises out of this process, but it is said that the legislation does not go as far as Mr. Justice Quirke recommended. The reaction to the publication of this legislation has not been an overly positive one. The Justice for Magdalenes Research, JFMR, the National Women's Council of Ireland, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, and Amnesty International (Ireland) have already called on the Government to honour the promise it made to Magdalen survivors in June 2013 and implement all of Mr. Justice Quirke's recommendations for a Magdalen restorative justice scheme. A spokesperson for JFMR criticised this legislation, saying:

The draft legislation does not meet Judge Quirke's recommendation on healthcare for Magdalene women. It is an obvious and unacceptable paring back of what the Government promised as part of the women’s redress package.

When we look at the recommendations of the Quirke report, it is clear to see that this legislation does fall short of what has been promised.

The first recommendation of the Quirke report stated:

Magdalen women should have access to the full range of services currently enjoyed by holders of the Health (Amendment) Act 1996 Card (“the HAA card”).

As an integral part of the ex gratia Scheme a card entitling its holder to health services equivalent to those provided to the holder of a HAA card should be given to each of the women who were admitted to and worked in a designated Magdalen laundry.

Instead of this, however, we see that the Bill promises the equivalent of a regular medical card. This is welcome, of course, but as I am sure the Minister is aware, most of the women already have medical cards. In this sense, the legislation does not meet Mr. Justice Quirke's recommendation on health care for Magdalen women. The Minister must outline why this is the case. It is unacceptable for the Government to say one thing on the publication of a report which shocked the country and then, when time has passed, water down the recommendations.

Those representing the survivors have stated that the Government has ignored Mr. Justice Quirke's recommendation to extend the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009 to Magdalen women who lack full capacity. An important element of the proposals was that applications to the scheme should be allowed to be made on those individuals' behalf and that their assets could be managed by a court-appointed representative in their best interests. It is our belief that those individuals need to be catered for and that this legislation should allow for the protection of women in institutionalised settings, provide independent advocates and ensure their interests are protected.

I ask that the Minister clarify this point further.

The Quirke report also recommended that each Magdalen woman of State pensionable age should receive a weekly amount from the State equivalent to the State contributory pension but taking into account any other State payments already being made; that each Magdalen woman under State pensionable age should receive a minimum weekly amount of €100 per week from the State but taking into account any other State payments already being made; and that all monetary payments should be exempt from income and other taxes and any form of means testing. I accept that payments have been made. However, as has been outlined by the groups representing these women, those who have received their lump sum compensation and pensions have promised not to sue the State in exchange for the full redress package recommended in the Quirke report. One of the most prominent campaigners on behalf of those women who suffered in the Magdalen laundries has stated:

The women who have received their lump sum compensation and pensions have promised not to sue the State in exchange for the full redress package recommended by Judge Quirke. However, this legislation is in clear breach of the women's legitimate expectations and puts those waivers on shaky ground.

It is a matter of concern that the survivors may seek to re-evaluate the agreement with the Government in light of the legislation before the House. I am sure this is an issue about which the Minister is also concerned. It is most worrying that the National Women's Council of Ireland has indicated that:

The Bill as currently proposed is a further denial of the rights of women survivors of the Magdalene Laundries. It undermines the Scheme as proposed by Judge Quirke, which provided only minimal recognition for the abuse women suffered. A particular area of concern is the denial of full pension entitlements for the women. Judge Quirke clearly recommended that the women should be treated as if they had made full pension contributions and yet the Government are refusing to back-date the pension entitlements for women. The women urgently require this compensation so as to provide a decent standard of living in their older years.

The Minister must outline how she will address the concerns that have been raised. We cannot allow another opportunity to be lost in the context of how these women are treated. If we are going to pass the legislation before us in order to address and amend the great wrong inflicted on these women, then it is important that we get it right. I implore the Minister to listen to the concerns of the survivors and do all she can to address them. We cannot allow another hurt to develop and be added to the many already visited on these women heretofore.

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