The Taoiseach and Tánaiste will meet the survivors of the Magdalene laundries next week, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said.
Mr Gilmore was responding to criticism of the Government’s response to the report by Dr Martin McAleese into the laundries, which was published earlier this week.
One of the survivors of the laundries, Maureen Sullivan, had said no Government politician had come to her or the other women with an apology.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today, Mr Gilmore said he and the Taoiseach intended to meet the survivors next week. "We intend to have a direct discussion with them about what their needs are, about how government should respond to this report," he said. "These women have suffered. What they endured was wrong. What happened in this country over those decades was appalling and this Government has heard these women and we have taken what they have to say seriously."
Asked whether it had not been possible for someone to stand up in the Dáil and "clearly apologise" to the women, Mr Gilmore said with such reports it sometimes took time for the Government to read them and consider them and to consider the response.
"On this occasion we decided we would publish the report immediately. The problem with that is that the time that you need to consider a response isn't there to do that," he said. "In the first instance what we are doing is meeting with the survivors. We are going to have that discussion with them - both the Taoiseach and I will do that next week."
He would "absolutely" make sure someone contacted the women. "These women, particularly given what they have suffered, are entitled to be listened to at the highest level of government. We are going to do that. We are going to talk with them about what their needs are and when the Taoiseach and I have had that discussion with them we will go back to our colleagues in government and we will make a response.
"We are not going to let these women down. We are going to do the right thing and we are going to have that direct discussion with them."
Mr Gilmore said the women were "owed" that. "They are entitled to that respect. I've been through this report."
Asked why the Government had not apologised, Mr Gilmore said the Taoiseach had said he was sorry for what happened to the women already. The Taoiseach was a man "of compassion, a man of care. I know how he feels about this. I have discussed it with him."
The Government had been the first to put a process in place to examine the Magdalene laundries, he said. The plight of the women in the laundries had been "neglected down the decades" and there was "shocking content" in the report, he said. "We are going to talk directly with the women both the Taoiseach and I and we will go back to our colleagues in Government when we have had that discussion."
A group representing survivors said they are confident of a State apology.
Steven O’ Riordan, head of Magdalene Survivors Together, said the women he has worked with are happy to meet Mr Kenny and Mr Gilmore “any time, anywhere”.
“The women believe it’s significantly important that they meet directly with the Taoiseach. They feel that by relaying their stories personally he will recognise the importance of giving a full apology,” he said. “I am optimistic a State apology will come in two weeks. I think he will do the right thing.”
Meanwhile, advocacy group Justice For Magdalenes, which has been fighting for a state apology, has warned the Government that many survivors will only meet the Taoiseach and Tanaiste if they are assured of confidentiality. The group said talks would be a huge step forward but only if privacy was a guarantee.
“The women we are in touch with, none of them would want to be publicly identified. Maybe that would change if they were told what happened to them was wrong,” said Katherine O’Donnell, University College Dublin researcher and member of the Justice For Magdalenes group.
“We won’t be bringing any women to a publicly known meeting. There are women who are brave and able to be publicly identified with their Magdalene past and we applaud their bravery," she said. “If a meeting does take place with them, that would be wonderful but it would only be a tiny step forward.”