Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2018
299. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if women eligible to apply to the Magdalen redress scheme (details supplied) are not required to provide proof or evidence of the hours they worked in cases in which this information is provided to the best of their ability. [49011/18]
View answer305. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason the recently published addendum to the terms of the Magdalen restorative justice ex gratia scheme includes a provision that the calculation of the lump sum redress payment will be made on the basis that no child under 12 years of age worked in a Magdalen laundry, unless an applicant provides evidence of such work before they reached the age of 12 in view of documentation that children under the age of 12 did work in the laundries. [49278/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 299 and 305 together.
The Government is committed to complying with all of the recommendations of the Ombudsman in relation to the operation of Magdalen Restorative Justice Ex Gratia Scheme. In relation to the Ombudsman's principal recommendation that the Scheme should be applied to women who worked in the laundry of one of the 12 'Magdalen' Institutions and who were resident in one of 14 adjoining institutions, the Addendum to the terms of the scheme giving effect to this recommendation has been finalised and published on the Department's website - www.justice.ie.
The Addendum provides that the first phase of processing a completed application is the making of a provisional assessment as to whether the applicant comes within the scope of the scheme. This assessment will be made based on the records of the institutions concerned (where available) and any other relevant records or statements, which may include the applicant's testimony and in some cases testimony from other persons. If an applicant has any difficulty obtaining their records from a religious institution or if assistance is requested, the Department will provide it.
Each application will be assessed individually on its merits. Decisions will be made on the balance of probabilities. In addition, for those cases where there is insufficient documentary evidence available to make an assessment on their case, an interview process is in place so as to facilitate a fairer assessment of a woman's application.
In relation to the age at which a girl started work in a Magdalen laundry, the information contained in the McAleese Report relates only to girls and women admitted to the Magdalen Institutions. The McAleese Committee did not conduct any research into the adjoining institutions which are now covered by the Addendum. The statistical analysis carried out by the Committee indicated that the average age on entry into the Magdalen Institutions was 23.8 years of age and the median age was 20 years of age. While the youngest entrant was identified as 9 years of age, this had occurred in the 1930s. The McAleese Committee's analysis also shows that only 4.1% were under 14 years of age at the time of entry. As stated in the Addendum, it is open to an applicant to show that she worked in a Magdalen Laundry before she reached 12 years of age and, where shown, such work would be included in the calculation of the 'work' element of the lump sum.
