Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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81. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he intends to implement all recommendations contained within the Magdalene Commission report as prepared by Mr. Justice Quirke in May 2012 on the establishment of an ex gratia scheme and related matters for the benefit of those women who were admitted to and worked in the Magdalen laundries; the date on which legislation to provide enhanced medical services to eligible women similar to that available to applicable persons under the Health (Amendment) Act 1996 will be introduced; if, under the terms of the Magdalen redress scheme, an eligible woman already in receipt of the full State contributory pension and therefore not receiving any further top-up payment will have her existing full State contributory pension deemed free of income and other tax; and the progress that has been made regarding the implications of payments and supports to eligible women living in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland and other countries, as set out in recommendation 12 of the the Magdalene Commission report. [52550/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Government has decided to implement the recommendations of Mr Justice Quirke but not always exactly in the way recommended by him. For example, his 10th Recommendation was that the provision in Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009 allowing for a person to be appointed to act in the best interest of the vulnerable person should be extended to women who benefit under the ex gratia scheme. It has been decided that it would be more appropriate to introduce a specific provision in a separate piece of legislation unrelated to the 2009 Act to address the intent behind this recommendation.

I am not in a position to say at this stage what date legislation will be introduced to provide enhanced medical services. My officials are engaging with the Department of Health to facilitate early introduction of appropriate legislation. Mr Justice Quirke recommended that payments provided under the ex gratia scheme should be tax free but the Deputy is correct in drawing attention to the fact that he did not make any recommendation regarding existing payments outside the scheme. This matter is being addressed by section 77 of the Finance (No.2) Bill 2013 as amended in the Select Committee on Finance.

Judge Quirke recommended dialogue at political level with the UK authorities to clarify whether payments under the ex gratia scheme would be disregarded in the context of either tax or means tested benefits. Nearly 20% of applicants reside in the UK. We have some knowledge of the situation in the UK and we have entered into a dialogue with the UK authorities on the matter. Judge Quirke recommended that the same should apply to women living in other jurisdictions. About 2-3% of applicants reside outside Ireland and the UK. Notwithstanding the very small numbers, I am open to considering entering a dialogue as regards these other jurisdictions but there are complications because of lack of information on how such payments may be treated and the fact that some involve federal states where responsibility for taxation and benefits may be split.