Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. On 27 February 2013 I stood up in this House and warmly welcomed the Taoiseach's apology the previous week to the Magdalen survivors. I also said that I was proud of him for the genuine, warm and sincere manner in which he had delivered that apology. Unfortunately, as Maeve O'Rourke of the Justice for Magdalenes group has pointed out, while the Taoiseach's apology was the highlight of his term, the legislation before us today is in danger of being a low point. She argues that the Government is preparing, quietly and deliberately, to break its promises to the approximately 500 elderly women regarding the redress package they were promised in 2013.

The Minister of State has given reasons as to why there has been a misunderstanding about the benefits that were promised to these women. Mr. Justice Quirke's very first recommendation was that the women would receive a medical card entitling them to the full range of services currently enjoyed by holders of the Health (Amendment) Act 1996 card or HAA card. The Magdalen women understood that this would include the full range of benefits available to the hepatitis C survivors and made a statement to that effect at the time. I am not aware of anyone disabusing them of that understanding. It was on that basis that they warmly welcomed the Taoiseach's apology and the recommendation of Mr. Justice Quirke that they be provided with a full range of health benefits. Two years on and there is great disappointment among these women. They waited for an awfully long time, not just for a State apology but for a genuine acknowledgement of the torture that they were put through. It is so disappointing now to see their unhappiness at how they are being treated by the Government.

As the Minister of State has pointed out, the hepatitis C survivors can visit any GP of their choice, including private GPs. They can see a dentist, public or private, at any time for any necessary treatment. They are also entitled to ophthalmic services at any time and to priority hospital-based ophthalmic care. They can be given unlimited aural services and referred to ear, nose and throat specialists within two weeks. These benefits will not be provided to the Magdalen survivors under the current Bill. There are much greater restrictions on the medical card list in terms of the types of medicines that are covered in comparison to those available under the other scheme. Furthermore, the Magdalen women will not receive the same type of counselling services. The Minister of State has argued that this is justifiable as far as the Government is concerned because the Magdalen women do not need the same range of services as the hepatitis C survivors but I disagree with the Minister of State on that. The experience that women went through in the Magdalen laundries has caused them incredible torment. It has not just affected the women themselves, but also their families. Many of them were deeply affected by their experiences in the Magdalen laundries on an emotional level, to the detriment of their mental health. The impact for many has been long term with some suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental illnesses. Their experiences in the past up to the present day have often affected their loved ones too, to the great pain of the women involved who would have given anything to have had a happy family life and not to have had their experiences affect their children. They want their children and other family members to have the opportunity to receive counselling so that all of those affected by the experience of the women can try to work through that. That is really important and the Government should not underestimate the importance of counselling for these women and their families. I would ask the Department to look at this issue again before the Bill comes back to the House for the Committee Stage debate.

There is also an issue with regard to complementary therapies, which are excluded under the provisions of this Bill. Such therapies include massage-based therapies, manipulation-based therapies, hydrotherapy, reflexology and acupuncture which the Minister of State has argued are not necessary. However, I note that the Minister of State at the Departments of Justice and Equality and Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, is a strong advocate of such therapies. Indeed, she will launch the Acupuncture Awareness Week at the beginning of March. On the one hand, the Government is saying that such services are not important and do not need to be provided to the Magdalen women while on the other hand, it is selling them as positive therapies that can improve the quality of life.

Finally, it appears that personal advocates or liaison officers will not be provided for the women.That is unfortunate because in my experience of dealing with vulnerable groups I have found that they are unable to advocate for themselves. They need help so the provision of personal advocates is very important.

The expectation following the publication of Mr. Justice Quirke's report was that the full range of benefits would be provided to the women concerned but clearly that is not the case. The Minister said that the HSE might be minded, on an administrative or discretionary basis, to provide services to the Magdalen survivors above and beyond those covered by the medical card but Senators should appreciate that we are talking about women who are particularly vulnerable. They do not want to have to live on grace and favour in the hope that a service will be provided for them by the HSE. They want an entitlement to that service. They want to see this House following through on the Taoiseach's apology in a meaningful way by providing them, as of right, with the range of services they require.

I ask the Minister to look at the Bill again. As a country we can never compensate the Magdalen survivors for the hurt, pain and torture inflicted on them in the past but we have an opportunity to at least give these, now elderly, women the highest possible level of comfort, health and dignity that we can. We will table amendments to the legislation on Committee Stage to ensure that the full range of benefits are provided as of right and I will ask Senators across the House to support them.

Fianna Fáil is also concerned that the Magdalen laundries have been excluded from the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes. The Minister has pointed out that the interdepartmental report looked into this area but the report has met with a lot of criticism. The Justice for Magdalenes research group published a report last week pointing out that the death rates were much higher than stated in the interdepartmental report because burial records have not been taken into account. There were other discrepancies too. We would have liked the investigation into mother and baby homes to have been, finally, a comprehensive investigation for these women. We think the mother and baby homes and the Magdalen laundries were both part of the same architecture of containment which existed for a long time for vulnerable women and girls and they should be fully investigated by the commission set up by the Minister.

We welcome that this legislation will provide some redress and some services for the survivors of the Magdalen laundries but we do not feel it goes far enough. We are talking about a limited number of women who have suffered great torture and pain and deserve, at this point in their lives, some comfort and dignity. I do not think it is beyond the Minister to go the full way and give them the services they expected.