Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Will the Taoiseach clarify when business will be reordered to allow for statements and questions to the Minister? I understand from media reports that he has finally agreed to implement the Ombudsman's recommendations following a scathing report late last year on the Department's administration of the Magdalen laundry redress scheme. The report came on foot of complaints made by 27 women who had been excluded by the Department from the scheme. Even after the investigation was complete, the first instinct of the Department of Justice and Equality was to push back. In evidence to the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality in January the Ombudsman stated that in his ten years as Ombudsman, he had never reached a point where a Department had, prior to publication of a report, absolutely and categorically refused to engage in the process of accepting and implementing the recommendations made. That reflection very much echoes the experiences of the excluded women.

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