Taoiseach Enda Kenny is expected to make a full apology to survivors of the Magdalene laundries in the Dáil this evening.At least 20 women who had been in Magdalene laundries will attend the Dáil debate on the McAleese report.
They will sit in the public gallery along with family, friends and representatives of advocacy groups which have been fighting their cause.
The women expect to witness an apology by Mr Kenny on behalf of the people of Ireland for ignoring them and their treatment at the 10 laundries in the Republic between 1922 and 1996.
The women will also hear details of how the State intends to assist them financially and in other ways as restitution.
This morning, Mr Kenny told reporters that he had “quite a number of meetings” with women from the Magdalene laundries and would be speaking to the Dáil today.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said the Government had been “determined from the very beginning to do the right thing by these women”. The outcome of the meetings would be discussed at Government today, he said.
Independent councillor Mannix Flynn spoke at a candle-lit vigil which was held in solidarity with the women this evening outside Leinster House.
Mr Flynn said the laundries represented “a regime of torture and a regime of slavery throughout this country.”
He said there were “many more” such scandals to be uncovered. He added that “we must remember the children out there still looking for their mothers.”
Spokeswoman for Justice for Magdalenes Claire McGettrick said "For decades they have walked a lonely road."
The vigil was organised by the Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) group and the National Women’s Council of Ireland. Singer Mary Coughlan also took part.
Support package
Three groups that have represented the women – JFM, the London Irish Women Survivors Support Group and Magdalene Survivors Together – agree that a package to assist the women should include pensions, healthcare, counselling, housing services and advice.
They also agree that lump-sum compensation should be paid to them. JFM has proposed a €100,000 sum in addition to a package of services including pensions and lost wages. That figure “reflects that women are forgoing important legal rights to go before the courts”, JFM has said.
Steven O’Riordan of Magdalene Survivors Together said they are “extremely confident that the Taoiseach will in some way extend the apology to include St Mary’s Training School, Stanhope Street, Dublin, and St Mary’s Training Centre, Summerhill, Wexford”.
At the weekend Minister of State for Health Kathleen Lynch said the package provided to the women would be assessed on an individual basis.
Independent councillor Mannix Flynn spoke at a candle-lit vigil which was held in solidarity with the women this evening outside Leinster House. Mr Flynn said the laundries represented “a regime of torture and a regime of slavery throughout this country.”
He said there were “many more” such scandals to be uncovered. He added that “we must remember the children out there still looking for their mothers.”
Spokeswoman for Justice for Magdalenes Claire McGettrick said "these women are our sisters, our mothers, grandmothers, our neighbours and our friends."
"For decades they have walked a lonely road," she said.
Tonight’s vigil was organised by the Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) group and the National Women's Council of Ireland. Singer Mary Coughlan also took part.
State involvement
“The Government has decided that a person with competence and compassion, and the expertise in this area, will be asked to deal with this issue.
“That person will be asked to put together a framework where women can interact with that person and their team, and we will then look at what needs to be put in place,” she said.
Where the four congregation who ran the laundries were concerned, she said they would be contacted by the State. Those congregations are the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, the Religious Sisters of Charity and the Sisters of Mercy.
The McAleese report found that the State referred or facilitated the transfer of at least 26.5 per cent of women to the laundries, based on available records. It also found direct State involvement in key areas such as the funding and inspection of the laundries.
More than 10,000 women and girls entered the 10 laundries between 1922 and 1996.
Referrals made or facilitated by the State included 2,124 of the 8,025 cases for which reasons are known.
The report also stated that 61 per cent of the women spent less than a year in the laundries and that their average age at time of entry was 24.