I will be inquiring anyway of the various councils as to what will happen.

I want to be associated with the general message, response and welcome to what the Taoiseach and other members of the Government said yesterday evening on the Magdalen laundries. The Taoiseach's response went a long way towards addressing any discontent that there might have been over a perceived delay in a Government response. What was said could have been said earlier, however. Perhaps Dr. McAleese's report may have taken the Government by surprise to some extent.

There is also a lesson here for how communications are managed in these situations. Expectations are important and it is probably a good development that when a report like this comes out that it would be clearly understood that there will be some time taken before giving a response.

What about the church's role?

It is appropriate it would be done in a considered way. We will now enter into a complex period in identifying how best to do justice for the undoubted wrongs and cruelties of the past that these women suffered. I hope all parties will be generous. It will probably require some creativity in coming up with the solution that will reflect the diverse types of situations that arose.