Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 April 2026
180. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to promote and advertise the Magdelene ex-gratia redress scheme, as commenced in 2013 and extended to further institutions in 2018 both in Ireland and abroad, given the low numbers of applicants to date (details supplied). [28784/26]
View answerThe Magdalen Restorative Justice Ex-Gratia Scheme was established in 2013, following the publication of the Report of the Inter-departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries (the 'McAleese Report') and, subsequently, the Magdalen Commission Report (the 'Quirke Report'), which made recommendations on the establishment of a redress scheme to address the needs of the women who had been admitted to and worked in the Magdalen institutions.
The Deputy may be aware that the Ex-Gratia Scheme applies to any eligible applicant who was alive on 19 February 2013 and who expressed an interest in participating in the Scheme; this was recommended by the Quirke Report. The number referenced in the question refers, in fact, to the finding of the McAleese Report that about 10,000 women entered Magdalen Laundries in the period 1922 to 1996. The McAleese Report also found that 61% of the women spent a year or less in the Laundries, and 35.6% of the women had a duration of stay of less than 3 months.
When the Quirke Report was published in 2013, it was estimated that, based on age profile and the period of time the Magdalen Laundries were in operation, up to 1,000 applications might possibly be received under the Ex-Gratia Scheme. It is important to note, however, that with the inclusion of two specific Domestic Training Schools (House of Mercy Training School, Summerhill, Co Wexford and St. Mary’s Training Centre, Stanhope Street, Dublin 7) that were added to the original list of 10 Magdalen Laundries, it was considered difficult to estimate how many additional applications might potentially be received in respect of the two Training Schools.
In 2018, following a recommendation by the Ombudsman, the Government decided that women who worked in the Laundries of the 12 Magdalen institutions identified in the Scheme but who were resident in one of 14 adjoining institutions, could also apply under an Addendum to the Ex-Gratia Scheme. Applications were received from women whose initial application under the Ex-Gratia Scheme had been refused, as well as from new applicants. No information is available on the number of additional applications that it was considered at the time might potentially apply under the Addendum.
Information on the Ex-Gratia Scheme has been made available widely, including with the assistance of advocacy groups in Ireland and the UK and through Ireland's network of embassies abroad. The Scheme remains open to new applications and my Department continues to engage with the Special Advocate for Survivors of Institutional Abuse, Ms. Patricia Carey, to ensure that those women who may be eligible but have not yet applied are made aware of the Scheme, how it works, and who they can contact. The Department is currently planning 2026 communications for the Scheme.
The vast bulk of applications were lodged in the early years of the Scheme, with only a very small number of new applications lodged in recent years. I would not consider that there has been a low number of applicants under the Scheme relative to the group of potential applicants, and I am not aware of any widespread view that information on the Scheme has not been made sufficiently available to Magdalen survivors.
