Ms Patricia Carey:

I thank the Deputy for raising the question on records and files. When we talk about adoption files, it is something of a misnomer that each person has a file. Unfortunately, in some cases, the information or file could be as small as an entry in a register. We are working with Tusla and the Department to begin to quantify the numbers. An initial count estimates that nationally, we are looking at 152,000 pieces of information. This includes everything, including files, ledgers and records. The majority of this information is in safe preservation but as we know and as alluded to by Senator Power, we do not know where some files and records are and we have information that they may be in various private homes or nursing homes.

For the first time, this legislation will provide a basis for gathering and preserving all of these historical documents but there is a huge resource implication in regard to doing that. Millions of euro are required and resources are needed to work with the National Archives and with specialists. These records relate to more than 50,000 people whose lives are documented in the files. As Dr. Shannon outlined, the right of many people to an identity is held in many of these files. For the first time, we are giving a statutory basis to recording and preserving that information and to knowing where each piece of information is. However, this will take a number of years and is a multi-million euro project.