Women who worked in the State's Magdalen Laundries are to receive free health services from July 1, the Government has announced.

From that date, the HSE will provide a number of primary and community health services free of charge, including GP services, prescribed drugs, dental services, home nursing, podiatry services, physiotherapy and counselling.

Any woman who has accepted a formal offer by the Minister for Justice under the Restorative Justice Scheme, will now receive a Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions (RWRCI) card from the HSE. These cards will start being issued in June.

The Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald, pointed out that the Government has ‘already set up a range of payments and supports for the women who worked in these institutions', as part of the Restorative Justice Scheme.

"Payments of up to €100,000 are being made to these women, depending on their length of stay in the laundries. In addition, the Department of Social Protection is making pension type payments to these women," she said.

Meanwhile, also commenting on this new medical cards scheme, the Minister of State for Primary Care, Kathleen Lynch, said that she hoped that those affected will be reassured now that a starting date for the scheme has been announced.

Over 500 women are expected to receive the cards this summer. There is no need for individuals to apply for them as the HSE will contact the relevant women directly.

The cards are only available to those who have accepted a formal offer under the Restorative Justice Scheme, as recommended by Mr Justice Quirke in his report on the Magdalen Laundries. However speaking on radio earlier, Minister Lynch said that there is no cut off date for applications to this scheme, and any woman who still wants to apply, can.

"If they are out there and are willing to accept what's on offer as laid out by Justice Quirke then not only is the award available to them, but indeed the medical card will be as well," she told RTE Radio.

Around 10,000 women and girls were incarcerated in Magdalen Laundries since 1922. These laundries operated a harsh regime where residents were forced to do unpaid work and were often subject to psychological, and sometimes physical, abuse.