Dublin South West Sinn Féin TD, Seán Crowe, has called on the religious orders to step up to the plate and pay their fair share to the Magdalene Redress scheme.

His comments follow those of his party leader, Gerry Adams, who also raised the issue of the Magdalene laundries issue with Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Crowe said it is this issue of possible liability that is clearly motivating the four religious orders in their refusal to make a financial contribution to the redress scheme and the government need to address this matter.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“The Government needs to be more proactive and take action to ensure that the religious orders, whose institutions benefited from enslavement of women and girls in their commercial enterprises, pay their fair share into the Magdalene Redress Scheme.

“In February this year the Taoiseach gave a heartfelt apology on behalf of the State to the surviving women of the Magdalene Laundries for the hurt that was done to them. He quite rightly told the women they were blameless – having been forced to live and work in appalling conditions.

“They also for most of their adult lives were forced to carry a deep-set sense of shame that they or their families had done something wrong.

“For the majority of women the Taoiseach’s apology was a turning point – but so too was the government’s announcement of a redress scheme to provide support and financial assistance to survivors. This would go some of the way address the hurt that the state and certain religious orders were complicit in.

“Enda Kenny’s decision to make this an ex gratia scheme, and indeed to ask the women to agree to make no further claim against the state if they access the scheme is in marked contrast to his generous tone and the fulsome content of his apology.

“It is this issue of possible liability that is clearly motivating the four religious orders in their refusal to make a financial contribution to the redress scheme. This issue of liability is also what underpins the government’s redress scheme and their refusal to deal with other abusive institutions like Bethany Home.

“The religious orders have a moral and ethical and a social responsibility to contribute to the Magdalene Redress scheme – but the government too has a responsibility to ensure that those directly responsible for the enslavement of these women and girls are made to contribute to the redress scheme.

“It is long past the time that  religious orders  stepped up to the plate and paid their share to the Magdalene Redress scheme.

“The Government needs to make sure that this becomes a reality and that the women who had to endure years of servitude are compensated in some way.”

ENDS