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The Magdalen Restorative Justice Ex-Gratia Scheme
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
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The Report of the Inter-departmental Committee (The McAleese Report) to establish the facts of State involvement with Magdalen Laundries was published in 2013. Following that report, the Government asked Mr. Justice John Quirke to devise a scheme to address the needs of the women who were admitted to and worked in the Magdalen institutions. Justice Quirke submitted his report to Government in June, 2013 – The Magdalen Commission Report (otherwise known as the Quirke Report).
The Government accepted in principle all of the recommendations in the Quirke Report. These recommendations included the payment of an ex-gratia lump sum to each eligible woman. The report sets out the amounts which may be paid, which vary between €11,500 and €100,000.
The Government later decided to add two further institutions to the scheme - St Mary’s Domestic Training Centre, Stanhope Street; and the House of Mercy Domestic Training School, Summerhill, Wexford. For the purposes of the Ex Gratia Scheme, these twelve institutions are collectively called the ‘Magdalen institutions.’
By January 2022, €32.8m has been paid in awards to 814 applicants who qualified under the terms of the Scheme.
In 2017, The Ombudsman issued a report on the operation of the scheme and made a number of recommendations, all of which were accepted by Government. Arising from one of the Ombudsman’s recommendations, in May 2018 the Government decided to apply the scheme to women who worked in the laundries in the 12 institutions but who were resident in one of the 14 adjoining institutions. A complete list of the Magdalen institutions and the adjoining Institutions is set out in the table here.
There are two separate application forms. One is for the scheme established in 2013 i.e. for those who were admitted to and worked in the twelve Magdalen Institutions. The other is for those covered by the May 2018 Government decision i.e. those who were resident in the adjoining institution and worked some hours in the laundry of the Magdalen institution.
The relevant application form should be fully completed, signed and returned to the Department of Children Equality Disability Integration and Youth, Block 1, Miesian Plaza, 50 – 58 Baggot Street, Dublin 2, D02 XWI4 along with the requested support documents. It is important to complete all sections of the form, which must be signed and dated, as an incomplete form will be returned and may cause a delay in processing your application.
If you need help in completing the form, you are welcome to contact the Department at +353 - 87 165 6460 or, call to your local Citizens Information Centre.
You may have nominated a third party as a contact person. However, it is important that you include your current address on your application form.
Along with the completed application form, you will need to provide some support documentation:
- Birth Certificate – long form.
- Proof of your current place of residence – a Gas bill or Electricity bill or Telephone bill will suffice.
- Proof of your identity – for example a photocopy of your Passport, or of your Driving Licence (Photo ID)
- Proof of your PPS Number – for example a photocopy of your Social Welfare Card or of your Medical Card
- Records or other evidence of residence in one of the relevant institutions as set out in the attached table.
- Records of time working in the laundry in the Magdalen institution (if applicable)
- A recent passport size photograph.
At this point, you don’t need to seek legal advice. The purpose of this application is to assess if you come within the scope of the scheme.
You will be contacted again once that process is completed and, at that point, you may decide to seek legal advice.
If you do not have records or evidence of your time in one of the relevant institutions you will need to contact the relevant religious congregation to request a copy of whatever documents they hold in relation to your residence and, if applicable, to your work in a laundry of a Magdalen institution (see list of institutions with contact details in table below).
If the religious congregation has no record or incomplete records for you, all you need to do is forward us a copy of your request to the religious congregation and their response. We will then be in touch with you to see how we can best confirm your eligibility under the scheme.
If having read this Information Note, you believe that you may be eligible for an award under the 2013 ex-gratia scheme or under the Addendum in respect of any of the institutions shown on the attached list, you should complete one of the two application forms.
The first application form covers the 12 Magdalen Institutions under the 2013 Scheme and the second application form covers the adjoining institutions covered by the Addendum.
Application Form: Magdalen Restorative Justice Ex-gratia Scheme
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Application Form: Magdalen Restorative Justice Ex-gratia Scheme (Adjoining Institutions)
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Completed application forms can be sent to:
Magdalen Restorative Justice Ex-Gratia Scheme
Address:
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Block 1, Miesian Plaza, 50 – 58 Lower Baggot Street
Email:
Phone number:
A total of €32.8m has been paid to 814 applicants in ex-gratia awards.
Under the original scheme 798 applications have been received.
The position in relation to applications as of 28 January 2022 is as follows:
| Application Status | Current Status |
| Paid | 733 |
| Offers issued | 1 |
| New Applicaton | 1 |
| In progress | 0 |
| Outstanding queries | 0 |
| Incomplete applications | 0 |
| Ineligible | 53 |
| Applicant deceased awaiting probate | 7 |
| Applicant died intestate | 2 |
| Withdrawn | 1 |
| Total Applications Received | 798 |
Under the 2018 Addendum to the Scheme 124 applications have been received. The position in relation to those applications is as follows:
| Application Status | Current Status | |
| Paid | 93 | * |
| Offers issued | 0 | |
| In progress | 0 | |
| New application | 1 | |
| Outstanding queries | 0 | |
| Ineligible | 25 | |
| Applicant deceased, eligibility not established, no known next of kin | 1 | |
| Application suspended due to lack of response from applicant | 3 | |
| Withdrawn | 1 | |
| Total Applications Received | 124 |
* 12 paid under both schemes
Review Process by Senior Counsel
A total of 216 cases have been identified for review
The review progress is set out in the table below
| Status | Current Status |
| Additional award paid | 129 |
| Award unchanged (original decision upheld) | 58 |
| Applicant withdrew from the process | 24 |
| Reviews in progress with some queries outstanding | 5 |
| Total | 216 |