The Taoiseach's speech yesterday on the Magdalen laundries was encrypted with humanity, humility, compassion, understanding, generosity and the type of leadership that we expect from a man of his calibre. It was appropriate, long overdue but the right thing to do. This Taoiseach has proved that he does not take advice from his advisers and opinions from legal people but says and does the right thing. Yesterday was an extremely good day for Ireland, for democracy, for politics and doing the right thing for citizens whom this State had clearly failed. To bring this to a finality, I would like to see the same leadership to be shown by the people who ran these institutions.

As a practising Catholic I believe that elements in the Catholic Church have a responsibility to follow the leadership of the Taoiseach and I sincerely hope that happens. I have every confidence that the redress system will be generous, fair and easily managed. I sincerely hope that the Catholic Church and the elements within it that ran these institutions pay their fair share under the redress system.

I am proud of our Taoiseach today, proud that he had the capacity to deliver such a meaningful apology and to provide an indication of the compensation deal on behalf of the Government and the people to the Magdalen women.

Hear, hear.

I met them this morning in Buswells Hotel and they were so happy they were walking 10 ft. tall. They put it to me that a great weight had been lifted off their shoulders. They are new women today. However, I am not only proud for the Magdalen women, I am proud for Ireland. We have had such a blackened and hidden past but what we did as a Government yesterday lifted the veil off that. This has been a good day for women, children and young girls.

It was.