Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wanted to take the opportunity to contribute again as I am conscious that we probably only have 90 minutes left in the debate so we will not reach most of our amendments. Not only are we rushing the legislation, we are rushing this crucial part of the debate and will not even have the opportunity to put forward the arguments for why we tabled these amendments. As the day has progressed, it has become increasingly clear this is a shambles. I wish to put some of the rationale for some of our amendments on the record.

There is no principled reason the Oireachtas fail to legislate to ensure the Minister responds to personal data access requests once he receives the archive. Neither the commission or the Minister has explained why, as a matter of principle, individuals effected by torture or other cruel treatment, forced family separation, enforced disappearance, or the fate or whereabouts of a family member who died while detained or abducted remain unknown and medical experimentation should not have full access to their personal data, including the transcript or their own evidence to the commission. I would like an answer to that, if possible.

The fact that they did not have any access to the commission's archive for the duration of the investigation is a major breech of their basic rights under the European Convention on Human Rights to be properly involved in any inquiry into the abuse they suffered. They should have been able to receive a copy of all their or their deceased relatives' personal data and their transcript of evidence and they should have been invited to comment on the evidence being received from the State and non-State institutions responsible for the treatment of mothers and their children. It is not acceptable to compound that human rights abuse by denying access to personal data in the Minister's possession for the next 30 years. The only justification which the Minister has offered is that the 2004 Act envisages a commission's archive being sealed for 30 years upon deposit with the Minister. There is no obligation on the Minister to seal the records under this Act. In fact, rather than be bound to secrecy, the Oireachtas could legislate to unseal record and evidence gathered by the commission.

We want to reiterate that this legislation needs to be scrapped. I do not care if I sound like a broken record. I appeal to the Minister regarding the time. We are having to explain why we are putting forward amendments while we rush through. We should at least have the time to debate those properly. We need to call a halt to this, put the brakes on and give it the proper time that it deserves, and take the opportunity to ensure the records are not sealed or passed over to Tusla. We need to engage in consultation with the survivors which goes to the heart of the whole matter. It is extremely frustrating that we are rushed on this.

We tabled an amendment on indexing. To engage in debate and consultation on further unsealing of the commission's archive, it is necessary to know what it contains. The archive deposited with the Minister is likely to include witness testimony, State records, many of which should be in the National Archives, but the originals are not because of the National Archives chronic under-funding, institutional records, financial records, correspondence, and bishops' and diocesan records. There could, therefore, be hundreds of thousands of items, if not more. How can the Government justify continued sealing of the archive without explaining what is in it and why exactly it needs to be sealed?

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