Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am one of the few Members of this House who worked in a Magdalen laundry. As the son of a gas fitter, I frequently visited the Magdalen laundries in Galway to repair water heating systems. I have two abiding memories from that time. One is of the oppressive heat in the laundries. The second is of the silence among, in some cases, beautiful young women. Nobody spoke to us. We just went in to do our work and then left. My colleague, Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell, referred to strong women. The women concerned are in need of strong women right now. I met some of the Magdalen ladies outside the front gates of Leinster House last week. They were not strong; they were elderly, frail, afraid and ill.

We have had the McAleese report and that of Mr. Justice Quirke on the establishment of an ex gratiascheme and related matters. Mr. Justice Quirke was unequivocal in his finding that the women concerned should be provided with access to a comprehensive suite of health care services. The health provisions of the scheme should operate in a similar manner to the provisions of the scheme made available under the Health (Amendment) Act 1996. Medical cards issued under that Act allow access to a comprehensive range of services, including a GP of choice; free prescriptions; dental, ophthalmic and oral care; home supports and nursing; counselling services; physiotherapy; chiropody and psychotherapy. These services are provided free of charge.

One might be led to think we are doing the women concerned a great favour, but we are only giving them that to which they are entitled. They have been mistreated since the foundation of the State and people in authority knew what was going on. Doctors and teachers visited these places. Let us not, therefore, clap ourselves on the back for anything we are doing for women who were treated so appallingly by the State.

Mr. Justice Quirke viewed the care provided under the 1996 Act as an integral part of the ex gratiascheme. The expression of sincerity is integral to the operation of restorative justice. Such sincerity requires that everything that can be done and more besides should be done. We should be tripping over ourselves to restore to these ladies the lives we stole from them. As a child, I recall hearing people being threatened with industrial schools or the Magdalen laundries. If they were not horrible places, they would not have been used as threats. The women concerned have a legitimate expectation of receiving services that are equivalent to those provided under the 1996 Act. They have signed legal waivers in good faith because the Government publicly promised to implement the recommendations made in the Quirke report. The Bill falls far short of these recommendations. If the Government is reneging on it promises, surely the women's waivers are legally unenforceable. I hope some firm of lawyers will take them on as clients if they do not receive everything to which they are entitled. We already know that the majority of women participating in the redress scheme have medical cards, but none of the services provided under the 1996 Act is available to them. Justice for Magdalenes has pointed out that there is no commitment to physically provide a medicall card for the Magdalen women. In other words, the Bill does little more than extend the medical card to the small minority of women who do not already have one.

When I met the Magdalen ladies last week, they expressed grave concern about their pensions. While Mr. Justice Quirke recommended that they be in the position they would have occupied had they acquired sufficient stamps to qualify for a State contributory pension, it is shocking that the scheme only provides them with a State contributory pension backdated to August 2013, rather than their date of retirement.

The Bill is also lacking in its provisions on capacity. It has been pointed out to me that a number of the Magdalen women lack full capacity. The Bill makes no provision for the appointment of care representatives for those who have difficulties in managing their affairs. In addition to asking the Minister of State, Deputy Aodhán Ó Riordáin, why there is no reference in the Bill to care representatives, I ask him what assessments have been carried out to determine which women have capacity and which do not. Has his Department accepted applications from religious orders for ex gratiapayments for a woman who lacks capacity but is not already a ward of court or the subject of enduring power of attorney? I cannot believe we have not gone the distance, let alone 100 miles beyond the distance to repay these ladies for their lost youth and the denial to them of the dignity of being paid for their work. In their old age they have nothing to look forward to but fear. Like other Senators, I will be tabling amendments on Committee Stage and will support those amendments that need to be taken on board. It is my hope that, for the first time since I entered the Seanad, some of the amendments will be accepted.