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

I thank the Deputy for her query. I acknowledge the importance of the issue of access to the commission's archive, which is due to be deposited with my Department at the end of February 2021. I am committed to implementing fully the right of access under the GDPR for those who wish to access their personal information from that date. I can confirm that my Department will provide appropriate guidance for individuals in good time to assist persons wishing to access personal information from this archive when it transfers to my Department. I have committed to continued engagement with the Data Protection Commission to ensure that the rights of all citizens to access personal information about themselves under data protection legislation and the GDPR are fully respected and implemented. The recent clarity provided by the Attorney General is very helpful in this regard.

The Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter Bill 2020 was brought forward by the Government to provide urgent and critical legal clarity on the protection and future use of a database compiled by the mother and baby homes commission during the course of its five-year investigation. The Bill was brought forward to preserve invaluable information, not to put it beyond reach. Of critical importance in this debate is the development of future legislation on rights of access to birth information. Future information and tracing legislation yet to be developed will provide a statutory basis for access to these records and will reduce the necessity to apply for the information in the form of subject access requests. I have committed to introducing legislation to the Oireachtas on this point in 2021. I have discussed the proposals for legislation on this with the Oireachtas Committee on Children, Disability, Equality and Integration yesterday.

It is important to state that the records of the commission will not transfer to my Department until the end of February 2021. This is to allow the commission time to consult all those who gave their stories to the confidential committee to ensure their wishes in respect of the inclusion of their names in the record are respected. That was another amendment which I introduced in the context of this legislation. I understand that the commission has compiled an extensive archive for which it will provide an index, which will be most helpful in providing access to the material. Copies of records that were provided to the commission will be returned to the Department, along with many other records from a multitude of sources, when the commission deposits its records with me in February 2021.

The Department digitised and captured a significant number of these records in the course of making its discovery to the commission. Not all contain personal information, but there is an immediate and resource-intensive task ahead in cataloguing and indexing all relevant records to assist in the effective management of subject access requests and related records management responsibilities. This is a significant issue which requires dedicated resources and expertise to develop a workable and GDPR-compliant corporate solution. As I have indicated, it is my intention to prioritise additional resources to this issue and it is anticipated that significant additional resources will be needed to manage current demands and those that will be made once the full archive has been deposited with the Department.

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