Responsibility for Magdalene Laundries 'lies with Irish authorities'

A top Vatican official has told a UN committee that responsibility for the Magdalene Laundries scandal lies solely with the Irish authorities.

Officials from the Holy See are facing questions in Geneva over incidents and allegations of child abuse in the Catholic Church across the world.

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi told the committee the Vatican's view was that the Irish state had taken full responsbility for the abuse scandal at the Magdalene Landries.

"The state is proceeding through the courts to settle the situation," he said.