Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

My input will be very short. A number of the victims that came forward to the various redress boards did so on the basis of the legislation that was there at the time. As Deputy McConalogue has already pointed out, what is very reasonable today was not available to the people who came forward. I have personal knowledge of one individual who did not come forward because he did not want his name to come out. The man, who has since died, never sought compensation and this was for two reasons. One, he did not want to relive what had happened in the institution and, two, he wanted total privacy with respect to what happened to him in his early life. If we now decide to retain the records - I do not care whether it is for 75 years or 175 years - is there a breach of trust here?

Some people will not have mentioned what happened to them to their extended family, such as their in-laws, and will never have mentioned that they were in an institution. The idea that the information would come out 50 years after they died would cause them pain and suffering right now. Are we opening the door to possible litigation? A colleague asked about litigation on behalf of the good names of institutions but what about the good names of individuals?

On the subject of consultation, are we going to have to go back to every individual to get a signature from them to say they agree to retaining their records? Some 15,547 came forward to the redress board having suffered great pain in their younger lives. Are we now going to force them to go into their old age wondering who is going to find out their secrets? While I see the benefit of doing this, I also see a breach of trust.