Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak briefly to those amendments on the preservation of records. I am on record for welcoming this and saying it has to be done. I do not appreciate the way it is being done. I understand the Minister is under pressure now and it has to be done. In relation to the preservation of records, it is urgent. When the mother and baby home report was published in 2021, I was critical of its recommendations, which were mixed up with conclusions and not very clear. The one that jumped out was that the religious orders should be asked to hand over their records and that never happened. That was 2021.

I thank the people on the ground who have pushed for this. I understand where the Minister is coming from. I appreciate that there is urgency and that we must have legislation that allows for the preservation of records. It sets out what they are. It is not exclusive. Other records might come to light that are not included here, and I welcome that. Also, it would seem, the list of institutions is not limited. I welcome that institutions may be added, if I understand correctly. In his reply, the Minister might tell me if I am correct in that regard.

This is simply preservation. It is incredible in the 21st century that we need to bring in emergency legislation now to ensure the preservation. We know from Dr. Mark Coen in Dublin about documents that were just left there, among other situations. My question is around what will happen if they do not co-operate. How do we know? If the various religious orders and the various bodies do not co-operate, what happens then? How do we know if they do not co-operate? What mechanism is there? Are we reliant on their goodwill? We have been reliant on their goodwill and it did not work. There is any amount of examples of documents not being preserved or just thrown in the scrapheap. That is where I am a little confused. The Minister has my total support on it, but what happens if they do not co-operate? There are offences there, but how do they come into being?

In relation to the director of the archives, what provision will be made? Perhaps the Minister would talk me through that. They are being given new powers and they will be able to issue a statement. How will that work? What will trigger that statement?

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