THE Department of Justice has denied that women sent to Magdalene Laundries by the courts, on remand or on probation, were regularly kept at the institutions for protracted periods.In meetings before Christmas with the Justice for the Magdalenes (JFM) group, department officials confirmed that after the publication of the 1960 Criminal Justice Bill, the department placed women "on remand" to the Sean McDermott Street Magdalene Laundry and Our Lady’s Home, Henrietta Street in Dublin.
This admission caused embarrassment for Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe, who had refused the Magdalene survivors any redress last September, arguing the State "did not refer individuals nor was it complicit in referring individuals to Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries".
Further information on the state’s role in the Magdalene Laundry culture was revealed in the Dáil yesterday when Justice Minister Dermot Ahern answered parliamentary questions from Deputy Ruairi Quinn.
Mr Ahern said the women on remand were not kept at the homes indefinitely and that their period of detention rarely exceeded seven days. He also confirmed that payments were made by the Department of Justice for those remanded by the courts to the institutions.
"Limited records for one or two years have been located linking payments with individuals remanded to Our Lady’s Home, Henrietta Street.
The records indicate periods of remand rarely exceeded seven days and one or two days was the norm.
Further research is being carried out to establish if more comprehensive records were kept," he said.
The minister confirmed the Henrietta Street institution was inspected by a state inspector when the religious orders sought financial support.
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