Alan Shatter TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence announced today that the Government has approved publication of the Final Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee, chaired by Senator Martin McAleese, set up to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries.
The Report covers a broad range of substantive areas, including the routes by which women entered the Magdalen Laundries, inspection of the Magdalen Laundries as workplaces covered by the Factories Acts, financial assistance to the Magdalen Laundries, detailed statistical analysis and much more.
Minister Shatter said: "The Report published today, which runs to over 1,000 pages, is a very comprehensive one. It is the result of both an unprecedented trawl of State records and a full examination of the records of the Religious Congregations which operated the Magdalen Laundries."
"I commend the courage of those who were residents in the Laundries who gave their time and told their stories to the Committee and I thank them for their cooperation."
"I appreciate and acknowledge the full cooperation of the Religious Congregations and in particular their willingness to make their records available, which allowed the Committee to develop this very full and detailed picture."
"I would also like to record my thanks to the different representative and advocacy groups who assisted the work of the Committee."
Minister Shatter continued "The Report tells a complex story, spanning the decades from the establishment of the State onwards. We now know that approximately 10,000 women entered Magdalen Laundries since 1922, through a whole range of different routes. These included State referrals as well as placements of women by many others, including significant numbers by families. We now also know that just over 60% of these women spent one year or less in the Laundries."
"Much of the information in the Report has never previously been made public. Among other elements, it records the stories of women entering the Laundries over the decades and documents some past practices which had been long since forgotten. In this way, the Report gives an extraordinary insight not only into the operation of the Magdalen Laundries, but also into the social realities of past times."
"I hope that publication of this Report will be of comfort to the women directly concerned. I appreciate that many women have lived their lives under a cloud because of the stigma that has attached to their residence in the Magdalen Laundries, irrespective of the circumstances which resulted in their admission and regardless of how much time they spent there. This stigma was undeserved and its removal is long overdue."
"Today’s Report clearly illustrates that the stigma derives from misconceptions relating to how women came to be in the Laundries. The Report also details that the Laundries were a cold and harsh place. I regret that it was not until July 2011 that action was initiated on behalf of the State to undertake a comprehensive examination of the circumstances that applied in the Laundries and the impact of the Laundries on many of the women who resided there. I am sorry that the State did not do more and the Government recognises that the women alive today who are still affected by their time in the Laundries deserve the best supports that the State can provide."
"I wish to thank Senator McAleese in particular for acting as Chair of this Committee. He brought a guarantee of integrity and independence to the work of the committee and was instrumental in winning over the confidence of everybody concerned. I would also like to thank Nuala Ní Mhuircheartaigh, the other members of the Committee and the many public officials who put such an effort into locating the relevant records which made this Report so authoritative."
"The report includes a significant amount of new information and it is important that time is given for it to be reflected on and for former residents of the Magdalen Laundries and others to give a considered response to the Report. It is intended that there will be a debate in the Dáil on the Report in two weeks time and, pending that Debate, the Report will be given full consideration by Members of Cabinet who received it this morning and who were briefed on its contents by Senator McAleese."
05 February 2013
ENDS
Notes for Editors
On 14 July 2011, following on from a Government decision, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence appointed Senator Martin McAleese as the independent chairperson of the inter-Departmental Committee charged with
- establishing the facts of the State's involvement with the Magdalen Laundries.
He was assisted by an adviser Nuala Ní Mhuircheartaigh, seconded for the period from the Department of Foreign Affairs. The other members of the Committee were:
Jimmy Martin: Department of Justice and Equality
Mary McGarry: Department of Education and Skills
Mary Moylan: Department of Environment, Community and Local Government
Barry Murphy: Department of Health
Denis O'Sullivan: Department of Children and Youth Affairs
Francis Rochford: Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation