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

In the situations the Deputy describes which have pertained previously in respect of the records of laundries, Dr. McAleese was told there were no records and then they were found in the abandoned Donnybrook Magdalen laundry. I suppose the difference between then and what will pertain after this legislation is that it will now be a criminal offence. It will be a criminal offence to leave records mouldering in a building, not to look after them or guarantee their safety and integrity. Dr. McAleese put down questions to organisations to ask them if they had records and he was told "no". If the director of the archives puts that question and is told "no", and it is found they are lying, that will be a criminal offence. I absolutely share the Deputy's concern about what has happened in the past. We are taking action now so we can address these issues going forward and do it with quite a robust level of sanction. I think that is important.

The National Archives are represented on the working group that is bringing together the national centre for records and research. They are part of that operation there. They would have advised on this legislation. They will advise on the legislation that will anchor the new national centre. They are aware of where there are gaps in our information. They will be aware of where there are institutions in respect of which there is a question mark about whether there are any files or where files are. The director of the National Archives is not operating in a vacuum. The director of the National Archives is part of this work. As I said, certain materials have already been handed over since the birth information and tracing legislation came through. There is a provision under the National Archives Act for organisations to hand over material to the National Archives. Now there is a much stronger onus on holders of records to maintain the records that they have. It is not in an organisation's interest to neglect their records any more because it puts them at risk of committing a criminal offence.

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