All lump sum payments to women who had been in the
Magdalene laundries will be tax exempt, Minister for Finance Michael
Noonan announced last Tuesday.
“The Government has
decided to give effect to one of the main recommendations of Mr Justice
Quirke, in relation to his report on the individuals who worked in
Magdalene Laundries,” he said in his Budget speech. “ To this effect, I
am announcing that all lump sum payments to claimants will be tax
exempt.”
Under the scheme prepared by Mr Justice
John Quirke in his recent report and announced last June, women who had
been in the laundries are to receive lump sum payments of between
€11,500 and €100,000 for time spent in the institutions.
Payment of the
money is not dependent on proof of any hardship, injury or abuse.
A woman who spent three months or less in a
Magdalene laundry will receive a lump sum of €11,500. For one year it
will be €20,500 and for five years €68,500. The maximum payment is
€100,000, for women who were in a laundry for 10 years or more.
Women
who are entitled to more than €50,000 through the Quirke scheme will
receive a €50,000 lump sum plus an annual payment calculated from the
remaining sum, which would be paid weekly.
It was
estimated by Department of Justice officials that total costs of lump
sum payments would be in the range of €34.5 million to €58 million with
one-off payments totalling between €24 million to €40 million and total
weekly payments amounting to between €70,000 to €1.26 million annually.
Last
July the four religious congrehations whichn had run the laundries, the
Mercy Sisters, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, the Sisters of
Charity and the Good Shepherd Sisters, told the Government they would
not be making any financial contribution towards funding the Quirke
scheme.