Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 585: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if he will allow access to all records for each woman and child the State was complicit in referring to the laundries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7623/10]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware the Magdalen Laundries were privately owned and operated institutions which were not subject to State regulation or inspection and, as a consequence, are not scheduled institutions for the purposes of the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002.

My Department does not have details of every individual who was placed in a laundry. In relation to the number of children that were transferred to a Laundry from a State regulated institution (scheduled institution), my Department only maintains records on those children who were admitted to Industrial & Reformatory Schools via the Courts. Some of these records may indicate instances of children being transferred to Laundries. My Department is currently reviewing these records in an attempt to identify the incidence of this practice within the records available to the Department.

My Department however does not generally hold any records in relation to children who may have been otherwise placed in the Industrial and Reformatory schools, e.g. voluntary placements, Health Authority referrals, etc. nor indeed would my Department hold any records in respect of former residents of the remaining scheduled institutions.

I wish to advise the Deputy however that officials at my Department recently met with a delegation representing the Justice for Magdalenes Group. At that meeting, my Department indicated its willingness to facilitate requests for personal information from individuals who were transferred to a Laundry from either an Industrial or Reformatory School.

In addition, my officials are continuing to liaise with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform regarding its ongoing inquiries in relation to the role of the criminal justice system in referring individuals to Magdalen Laundries.