Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 16, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following:

“Amendment of Schedule to National Archives Act 1986 15. The Schedule to the National Archives Act 1986 is amended by the addition of “Criminal Assets Bureau”.”.

This is a technical but important amendment. It proposes a simple change to add the Criminal Assets Bureau to the list of public bodies in the Schedule to the National Archives Act 1986. By adding the Criminal Assets Bureau to this Schedule, I am formally designating it as a scheduled body under the Act. In law, this means its records will now be treated as departmental records and will be subject to the full provisions of our national archives legislation.

The primary effect of this is that the bureau’s records will now be subject to the 30-year rule. This is a cornerstone of the State's commitment to transparency and historical accountability. It ensures that after a period of 30 years, the records of Government bodies are transferred to the archives, where they can be preserved and made available for public inspection. This does not mean that sensitive operational files concerning criminal investigations will be opened in 30 years’ time. The National Archives Act contains robust and long-established safeguards to protect exactly this type of information. Section 8(4) of the Act provides a clear mechanism for an authorised officer to certify that records should not be released if doing so would be contrary to public interest, a breach of confidentiality or statutory duty, or likely to cause distress or danger to a living person. This is the same robust system that applies to records from An Garda Síochána, the Revenue Commissioners and the DPP, all of which are already covered by the Act. The National Archives Act 1986 provides the necessary balance between our duty of transparency and the absolute necessity of protecting sensitive law enforcement information and, crucially, individuals.