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

In response to the queries about the issue of delay and the sealing of the archive, I have said that I want to look at the sealing of the archive, particularly in the context of personal information. I am being asked to completely remove the sealing of the archive, which is provided for in the 2004 Act and which comprises the commission's work in the past five years. Everything the three members of the commission have done has been on the basis that the archive would be sealed. They operated on the understanding that everyone involved in the commission was working under a legal framework whereby the archive would be sealed for 30 years at the end of the process.

Some Deputies have suggested that the entire archive would be completely unsealed. The risk there is that one would immediately have challenges to the commission's report. We have seen that tribunals have been challenged. Years have been spent getting tribunals established and although the inquiries have been undertaken, the findings of the tribunals have been struck out by the courts because of issues regarding fair procedures. I do not underestimate the challenge in addressing the 30-year rule, but we can make the case for access to personal information, especially if we look at GDPR and the ways it could potentially be used. I commit to try and find pathways to address the issue that way.

I do not think this will be done quickly and that is why I do not want to see the report delayed on that basis. Getting the report published and getting the outcome of the work that the commissioners have done in the past five years into the public domain is going to be an incredibly important moment. It is not the only moment in this entire process; there will be recommendations that the Government will need to consider and on which I will urge the Government to act, but getting the report published is incredibly important. I want to see the report delivered on 30 October, as the commission has indicated it intends to do.

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