Dáil debates

Wednesday, 4 November 2020

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries

2:15 pm

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

The Deputy is absolutely right to say that survivors are essential to all of this. That is the key concern. As I acknowledged in my earlier contributions, I did not do enough to reach out to survivors prior to the introduction of this legislation. I am in the process of rectifying this. I have engaged with survivors this week, including today, and I will continue to do so.

There will be a range of new responsibilities on my Department in light of the clarification the Attorney General has provided. I welcome these responsibilities but we must provide resources for them, which we are in the process of doing. We must also understand how we as a Department can fulfil those responsibilities in a way that is fully compliant with the GDPR. My first port of call in that regard will be the Data Protection Commission, which is the official advisory body on this and had flagged issues which helped to advance this matter dramatically. I am very happy to engage with international experts as well. Several names were suggested to me by the Adoption Rights Alliance when the Taoiseach and I met with that body on Friday of last week. I am very happy to engage, but the Data Protection Commission is this State's statutory body for overseeing the enforcement of data rights in general, including under the GDPR. That office will be my first port of call, but I am happy to engage further.

It is important to state that the GDPR will not address all of the issues around access to information. That is why it is important that we bring in information and tracing legislation as quickly as possible. It is also important to understand that my Department will be addressing issues to do with the commission's archive. The Ryan and McAleese reports are under the remit of other Departments. That is why the wider issue of access to information and the archiving issue, to which the Government made a very significant commitment last week, will be fundamental in addressing the wider landscape of information and records on institutional abuse in Ireland in the 20th century. My Department looks forward to co-operating with other Departments on that matter.

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