Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the questions. On the second question dealing with the issues covered in the database legislation passed by the Oireachtas last year, my understanding is that the documents that are referred to and protected under that legislation are summaries undertaken by those who were listening to the personal accounts before the confidential committee. They are summaries of the individual personal accounts given by the 550 people who appeared before the confidential committee. My understanding is that they are not a verbatim text of those meetings; they are a summary document. That is my understanding of what is provided for and protected under the database legislation.

In regard to my engagement with the Attorney General on this issue, I do not have the specific date but two or three weeks ago I wrote to the Attorney General in the context of concerns that were being raised as regards the confidential committee and the status of the commission of investigation. As well as my engagement with the Attorney General, I have engaged extensively with the Data Protection Commissioner to get an understanding of concerns that she had raised and on working with the Data Protection Commission to ensure that when the archive transfers to my Department its procedures are GDPR compliant. My officials and I met with the Data Protection Commissioner a number of weeks ago to address issues around GDPR compliance in my Department going forward. That is important. I am very conscious of the need, once the archive transfers to my Department, to answer the subject access requests from survivors in a way that is GDPR compliant.