Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason, having included Stanhope Street Laundry, the Athy or Newtownforbes Laundries were not included in the redress scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14446/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Government decision of 19 February relates to Magdalen Laundries which were examined by the Inter-Departmental Committee set up to establish the facts of State involvement. There were a wide variety of institutions which had laundries run by different religious congregations and no decision has been made to include them all within the scope of the Magdalen Scheme.

As regards the specific institutions referred to by the Deputy I have seen no evidence to suggest that the institutions in question share the characteristics associated with the 10 Magdalen Laundries.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will consider the creation of a dedicated unit within his Department that will function as a single point of contact for survivors of State institutions, seeking assistance and or access to State services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14447/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Government has asked the Retired High Court Judge and current President of the Law Reform Commission Mr Justice John Quirke to undertake a three month review and, taking into account the findings of the report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries, to make recommendations as to the criteria that should be applied in assessing the help that the Government can provide in the areas of payments and other supports.

How the recommendations of Judge Quirke will be administered will not be decided in advance of him making such recommendations.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality in view of Government funding for a UK group to work with survivors of State institutions living in the London area, the amount of such funds, if any, that have been designated to assist survivors in Ireland or in other parts of the diaspora; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14448/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Government decided on 19 February 2013 to establish a scheme of supports for women who had been in Magdalen laundries and requested Mr Justice Quirke to make recommendations in this regard. No decision on the details will be made until after his recommendations have been received but it is intended to apply to all women who were in Magdalen laundries even if they no longer reside in the State.

Nevertheless the Government was conscious that the organisation which represents the largest number of women who were in Magdalen laundries is based in the UK and those women fall outside the scope of the standard supports provided by this State. As an interim measure, the Government agreed to make an initial sum of €250,000 available to a UK based organisation to provide supports for the women in question. This payment is subject to approval of certain legal documentation.

Arrangements were made in the past by other Departments for payments to be made to Irish and UK based groups working with former residents of other institutions such as industrial schools located in this State. This is a separate matter to the Magdalen laundries and if the Deputy is seeking information on funds relating to these other institutions he should in the first instance contact the Minister for Education and Skills.