Two former industrial school
residents, who worked in laundries but were excluded from the Magdalene
compensation scheme, were denied fair procedures in how the decision was
reached, a High Court judge has ruled.
The women had claimed that as girls in industrial schools they were forced to work in the laundries. Mr Justice Michael White
has directed the Department’s restorative justice unit (RJU) to
reconsider the matter in light of his findings and in the context of a
review involving the unit and Ombudsman’s office concerning the scope of
the ex gratia scheme.