The committee chairperson Martin McAleese said that extra information has to be examined which could add “in a meaningful way” to the overall outcome.
THE FINAL REPORT into the State’s involvement with the Magdalene Laundries is to be completed by the end of this year.
Senator Martin McAleese, who chairs the Inter-Departmental Committee set up to probe what happened in the infamous institutions between the 1920s and 1990s, has told the Minister for Justice that “excellent progress” had been made despite “considerable challenges”.
The committee was established to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalene Laundries, to clarify any State interaction and to produce a narrative detailing such interaction.
An initial report, released on 25 October last year, set out a schedule for the final report and it was hoped it would be completed by mid-2012. However, relevant records and a significant level of information and documentation continues to be identified, according to McAleese. Submissions from representative and advocacy groups are also still being received.
McAleese said that such information “has the capacity to add in a meaningful way to the overall outcome of the committee’s work” and that it would be “improper to conclude its work without examining the additional material”.
The Committee has said it intends to present a substantial Final Report as soon as possible and before the end of this year, at the latest.
Ten institutions are covered by the inquiry, a number of which are said to be cooperating fully with the process.
It is now over a year since the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) recommended an independent inquiry and redress for former residents of the Magdalene Laundries.
The inter-departmental committee was set up on foot of this recommendation. UNCAT stated it was “gravely concerned” at the failure of the State to protect girls and women who were involuntarily confined between 1922 and 1996.
An independent inquiry will be considered after the publication of the inter-departmental committee’s final report. The Government has committed to making the final report public.
Final report has to be delayed for the whole truth to be told what is the point of rushing a report. I am not shocked and disappointed because when the final report comes out it will tell how the Irish state and church worked together how women where locked away against there will. How the Irish republic knew about these women and children but choose to turn a blind eye, Please let the committee do there work.