Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Under the legislation, the normal reporting mechanisms have been put in place regarding NAMA. Obviously, the statutory requirements there will be adhered to in the normal way.

On the matter raised by the Deputy about the Ryan report, I will have to check on the situation. As he knows, the non-adversarial nature of the way in which people were able to bring their claims meant that statutory proofs were not required and people were not being convicted in that sense. People who could prove that abuse existed de facto and that they were in attendance at those institutions proceeded to obtain compensation on that basis to avoid the adversarial court system. I do not know what impact that process has on the extent to which that information can become more widely available. I will have to check and get the details as to what is to happen in respect of that documentation and inform the Deputy accordingly.

Regarding the earlier matter that the Deputy mentioned, the talk is that the council, as I understand it, will be appointed on the basis of the present consultation that is taking place between the three organisations. Once she has those observations, she can look to the establishment of such a council. I cannot say why it has not gone ahead. Perhaps a direct question to the Minister concerned would derive more information as to the circumstances behind that.

As to the question of electronic records being preserved and provided in the same way as paper files in the past, as I have said the whole purpose of the archives Act has been to impose an obligation on Departments of State to preserve records created and-or received in the course of performing official functions, to seek authorisation from the director of the National Archives prior to the destruction of any of those records and, from among its record holdings, to transfer to the National Archives those records worthy of permanent preservation because of their ongoing value for administrative and historical research purposes when the records are 30 years old so that they can be made available for public inspection and research use. The Act applies to all records of Departments of State regardless of the format, so it is an obligation. As I outlined in the previous answers to the question, I can confirm that my Department, in discharging its responsibilities as a Department of State, is meeting those requirements, including on electronic data.

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