Magdalene survivors seek compensation review

By Conall ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner
March 17, 2014

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/magdalene-survivors-seek-compensation-review-262212.html

Sixteen survivors of the Magdalene Laundries have sought a review of the amount of compensation they have been offered by the State.

According to figures released by the Department of Justice, 722 survivors have applied for redress, with 321 letters of formal offer having been issued.

To date, 238 survivors have accepted the offer, with 211 payments having been issued at a cost of in excess of €7.6m.

However, 16 women have formally asked for an internal review of the offer they have received. Of that number, five have been decided by the review officer, with one survivor currently appealing her offer to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Steven O’Riordan of the Magdalene Survivors Together has repeatedly expressed concern that survivors were being offered lesser amounts of compensation than they were entitled to due to the records of the Orders not matching the accounts of the women in terms of duration of stay.

“Why is the word of the Orders taken when McAleese himself acknowledged there were gaps in the records? These women’s stories have been consistent for almost a decade we have been campaigning. The Taoiseach himself said he believed the women in his apology, yet it’s the Orders’ word that is taken,” he said.

A number of the Magdalene survivor groups have expressed concern that less than one third of survivors have received compensation, more than a year after Taoiseach Enda Kenny apologised to victims in the Dáil.

Justice For Magdalenes Research (JFMR) expressed concern that any women querying the offers they have been made by the State, by going to review or to the Ombudsman, may not be able to afford this step as the maximum the State provides for legal advice to survivors is €500.

The group also repeated its insistence that all Magdalene survivors be entitled to adequate medical and health services as recommended in the Quirke Report and that the recommendations be implemented “in full”.

Justice Quirke recommended to the Government that survivors should have access to “the full range of services” currently enjoyed by holders of the HAA medical card.

“We look forward to Minister Reilly implementing Judge Quirke’s healthcare recommendation in full. Judge Quirke recommended that a wide range of private community health services and therapies be available to survivors, in addition to public services and hospital care,” said a spokesperson.