IRELAND
Irish Independent
DANIEL MCCONNELL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT – 20 JULY 2013
THE religious orders who ran the controversial Magdalene Laundries have strongly rejected newspaper claims they have given just €1.6 million to a fund for survivors.
In a lengthy statement, issued yesterday afternoon, the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy insisted they have contributed €21.7 million in cash to the Statutory Fund since 2009.
The Sisters argued that “as taxpayers who donate their net salaries/pensions to our charitable funds, our Sisters share in the burden of all citizens in responding to women for whom, in past decades, admission to Magdalene Laundries was seen as appropriate refuge.”
The Sisters were last week severely criticised for stating that they would not be contributing to the state scheme, which led to calls for their orders to lose their charitable status. Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Justice Minister Alan Shatter both ruled out such a move, claiming an inability to do so.
In their statement yesterday, the sisters claimed that the €21.7 million cash already paid “is part of a larger contribution offered by our Congregation and valued in December 2009 at in excess of €127.5 million”.
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