That figure was increased under the Ryan Report in 2009, when the congregations were asked to give half the cost of redress, but offered a further €352.61m.

It is a deal which has cost the State more than €1.5bn before the publication of the mother and baby homes report, a figure which will surely grow.

The scale of the Bessborough site in Cork is immense. Surely, there is no question of the religious orders not having the means to contribute to a redress scheme. Note, this is just one of many similar sites in Ireland. #motherandbabyhomes pic.twitter.com/eMBNRaaTLy

— Dr Paul O'Brien (@FearStairLmk) January 12, 2021

The issue of redress for the survivors will come before the Cabinet before April 30, but at present will do so under the cloud of the 2002 deal, agreed by the late Dr Woods, a devout Catholic and agreed at the final Cabinet meeting of the government before the 2002 election.

Mr Martin told RTÉ's Redress documentary: "In retrospect, in my view that was a mistake at the time.

"I think there was that window. You’re talking about the last Cabinet meeting [of that government]. This is something that has been negotiated. It’s in the best interests of everybody, bring it to closure and that’s how it got through.”

Mr Martin had, in 2017, said in an RTÉ interview that the decision had to be made because the Catholic Church, which in 2019 sold Holy Cross College for a reported €95m, wouldn't have the funds available to it to pay redress to its victims. He said the idea of leaving victims waiting was not acceptable and this was "the most humane thing" that could be done.

"The church would never had been coming up with €1.5bn and the legal advice at the time – I remember speaking to the late Rory Brady who was the attorney general [Mr Brady became attorney general after the deal was reached] – he was adamant that the State would always, because of its involvement, from the inspectorial regime at the time in industrial schools – it was culpable."

While humane, the agreement effectively "signed a blank cheque" for religious orders, the attorney general at the time, Michael McDowell, would say last year. Mr McDowell's RTÉ documentary Rome v Republic talks about the deal, which he said saw the Church "effectively turn its back" on the law of the land.

Mr Martin's dedication to victims is admirable and seems genuine and he is right when he has said the State was culpable in the horrors meted out at Magdalene Laundries and mother and baby homes. 

The State had a duty of care to the women and children in these institutions and it failed badly, failed repeatedly and failed utterly. But this is not the State's bag to carry alone and it should not be.

The Bon Secours Sisters' statement that it will contribute to redress is welcome, but by law the order will be allowed to decide itself how much it will pitch in. That is not accountability. 

The country has taken over two decades and huge cost in financial and personal terms to look the damage done by the Catholic Church in the eye. 

Treating its contribution on the level of a collection plate being passed around, where whatever shrapnel bouncing around your pocket will do, is an insult to all Irish people, not just those who survived the worst that the nuns had to offer.

You can watch @alankellylabour full statement on the #motherandbabyhomes here

We need to make sure that survivors are cared for and given the supports they need.https://t.co/47GCayZRAS

— The Labour Party (@labour) January 13, 2021

Labour leader Alan Kelly said it best in the Dáil, offering to draft legislation to force the orders whose modern standing is built on the backs of women who were wronged by the State into paying their share.

The 2002 decision was, with the benefit of time, a disastrous decision. The Government must not compound it now.