I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 and 180 together.
The Government decision of 19 February relates to Magdalen Laundries which were examined by the Inter-Departmental Committee set up to establish the facts of State involvement. There were a wide variety of institutions which had laundries run by different religious congregations and no decision has been made to include them all within the scope of the Magdalen Scheme. As regards the specific institution referred to by the Deputies, I have seen no evidence to suggest that the institution in question shares the characteristics associated with the 10 Magdalen Laundries. In particular key factors include State involvement, an enclosed residential institution, loss of identity, women who did not choose to be there and women having to work without pay in a commercial laundry.