Inquiry into Irish 'laundry abuse' scandal

The Irish government yesterday announced an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding reported abuses at Catholic-run laundries.

The government said the independent committee will chronicle any interaction between the government and the so-called Magdalene Laundries.

The inquiry will examine any state culpability in possible abuses in the network of workhouses operating from the 1920s to the mid-1990s. Human rights groups say young women were abused after being sent to the laundries. Many of the victims were teenagers who arrived as punishment for petty crimes or for becoming pregnant out of wedlock.

The government also said that ministers would meet representatives of the victims.

James Smith, a spokesman for the group Justice for Magdalenes, said the group welcomes the government's decision.