Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I have previously indicated, both myself and my Department are giving full and detailed consideration to each of the four recommendations made by the Ombudsman in his report published on 23 November.

It is important to note that the existing scheme remains open. To date, 684 applicants to the Magdalen scheme have received their ex gratiapayments from my Department's Vote at a cost of over €25 million.

The terms of the scheme recommended to Government by Mr. Justice Quirke included the payment of lump sums in a range from €11,500 to €100,000, special access to health care, upgrading of pension entitlements to the full State pension for those who had reached retirement age and the payment of a weekly sum of €100, inclusive of other State payments to others.

The Ombudsman has recommended that women who lack capacity should be made wards of court. I can inform the Deputy that this policy was already being pursued by the Department, which is now considering whether any further measures can be taken in this regard in the light of the details of the Ombudsman's recommendation. It was recommended that there should be a review of any cases where there has been a dispute over length of stay.  No particular difficulty is foreseen with this recommendation and my Department is exploring the options for conducting such a review. It was further recommended that guidance should be developed centrally on future restorative justice or redress schemes and my Department will be pursuing this recommendation with the Departments likely to be responsible for any such schemes.

The recommendation of the Ombudsman to include certain industrial schools and training centres within the scheme, notwithstanding the fact that applicants may have already received payments under the residential institutions redress scheme, raises a number of issues. I am sure Deputy O'Callaghan will agree that these are matters of some substance. As part of the consideration of this recommendation, my Department is seeking to clarify all the issues concerned and will assess the administrative, resource and legal implications.

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