Courts / Waterford / Report

Woman challenges Minister's refusal to include her in Magdalene redress scheme

Date
2016-01-26

Stage
Hearing Or Decision

Primary locality
Waterford

Summary

A woman who says she was forced to work in Magdalene laundries for ten years has taken legal action against the Minister for Justice for excluding her from the government's redress scheme for victims of those institutions. She claims she was used as "forced labour" at St Mary's laundry in Waterford and St Mary's Refuge Magdalene Laundry in Dublin from age eight to 18, during the 1970s and early 1980s, and was not paid. She applied to the scheme set up in 2013 to compensate survivors, but her application was rejected because she was admitted to two industrial schools rather than the laundries themselves. In the High Court, she seeks orders to quash the Minister's refusal and to admit her to the Ex-Gratia Scheme for Women who were admitted to and worked at the laundries. The case was granted permission on an ex‑parte basis and is set for a hearing in March.