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Jun 10, 2015 | Parliamentary Questions

Parliamentary Questions – 10 June 2015

Caranua > Parliamentary Questions > Parliamentary Questions – 10 June 2015

Below are questions asked by TDs in Dáil Éireann, relating to Caranua and other areas relevant to survivors

An Grianán

Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason An Grianán was excluded from the Magdalene laundry redress scheme, in view of the fact that evidence had been uncovered in the course of the McAleese inquiry, which showed beyond any doubt that it served as a Magdalene laundry. 

Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): An Grianán was established by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity in the 1960’s specifically for the care of teenagers and while on the same site as the Magdalen Laundry, St Mary’s Refuge in High Park Drumcondra, it served a different purpose to the traditional Magdalen institution which dated back to the 19th century and was open to women of all ages. There were a number of different institutions on this site.

In the 1960s the teenagers in An Grianán received courses in reading, writing, typing, cookery and sewing and thereafter classes continued on a more formal basis and teachers were employed, however, a number of the girls did at one stage do some hours each week in the laundry while resident in An Grianán.

The different nature of An Grianán was recognised by its inclusion in the Residential Institutions Redress Board Scheme. Girls who were admitted to An Grianán were entitled to full compensation for the entire duration of their stay under the Residential Institutions Redress Board Scheme.

The Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002 provides for persons who as children, were abused while resident in institutional care. All the institutions provided for under the Act are listed in a schedule to the Act and An Grianán is the first of 130 institutions listed in the schedule. Institutions covered under the Residential Institutions Redress Board Scheme are not included in the Magdalen Laundries Ex Gratia Scheme as otherwise all the individuals concerned would receive double compensation for the full duration of the time spent in the one institution.