Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is an extremely wide-ranging provision which would give rise to significant and unforeseen implications. It would have knock-on effects on various pieces of legislation which would have to be reviewed if we go down this road. The Official Secrets Act covers this, as does the Data Protection Act. The general registrar has been dealing with matters such as adoption records in a confidential way for a number of years. I do not see a need for the amendment. The knock-on effect of taking such a wide-ranging provision would be to have much more consideration and detailed consultation. I do not see the necessity for it. The Bill does not have to state specifically that it is covered by the Official Secrets Act because it is covered by it, and it is also covered by the Data Protection Act. There are already safeguards in this regard. If there were not, the Department would be quite cautious. We believe the Bill is robust enough to cover the eventualities outlined by the Deputy.