Mr. Dale Sunderland:

I might add that we are not convinced. As Mr. Murphy said, we have questioned the application by the Department in this context. We believe that this regulation was never intended for medical records held in the context of mother and baby homes. There are one or two options. Either the statutory instrument is amended, and that is what the Department has indicated, or there is a pragmatic approach under the current statutory instrument that could be used where a medical professional, on behalf of the State, would do a general analysis of the records held, not on a case-by-case basis but on a general basis, and determine whether there is any serious impact arising to individuals from releasing them. That is a potential pragmatic approach we suggested to the Department as well. They are the options but, as my colleague said, we have questions about its application and we welcome the fact that the Department has indicated that it is going to amend the regulation shortly, specifically as it relates to the mother and baby homes commission archive. However, there is a broader context around this regulation, which my colleague referred to, and that also must be addressed.