Ba mhaith liom thar ceann mhuintir Shinn Féin anseo sa Seanad comhbhrón a dhéanamh tar éis bhás an iar-Bhall den Teach seo, Alexis Fitzgerald, lena chlann, lena mhuintir agus lena chairde. I echo the sentiments expressed on the passing of the former Senator and Deputy Alexis Fitzgerald and pass on our condolences to his family and friends.

I concur with Senator Ivana Bacik in her call for a debate on the working group on direct provision. It is very important that we debate the issue. I have serious misgivings about some of the findings of the working group, which I will make at the time. Perhaps before we break up next week, if he is able to do so, the Leader might also give us an indication of the progress of the protection Bill which is intricately linked with the work of the working group. A Bill is required to introduce most of the recommended changes that need to be made.

Many Members might be thinking about taking a break from the Houses, but I raised an issue to which the Leader did not get to respond owing to the shenanigans about a number of women who did not have much time to wait. I refer to the 1,512 women who have signed up the Magdalen redress scheme. In order to sign up the women were required to indemnify the State. They did so on the understanding the Government would honour in full the recommendations made in the Quirke report. In recent weeks women based in this country have begun to receive their long-promised medical cards, only to find they are inadequate for their health needs and do not entitle them to the enhanced range of services they were promised when they signed up to the scheme. No provision has been made for the survivors who reside outside the country, all of whom are entitled to redress.

As if the issue was not problematic enough, the medical cards issued to the women in question in recent weeks clearly identify them as survivors of residential institutions, which is a breach of their privacy. They are elderly and have been and, sadly, continue to be treated appallingly. They have no time to waste. Several of them have passed away since the Taoiseach’s tearful apology to them. They deserve the best we can give them immediately, not when we return from our summer holidays. I note that we will have a Minister or Minister of State from the Department of Justice and Equality here next week. I call on the Leader to make time available either today or next week in order that we can address the issue and raise the concerns raised by the women concerned. The Government should not leave them hanging in uncertainty during the summer recess. They deserve the best we can offer. We must take action and should do so while we are still here. I call on the Leader to organise such a debate.