Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. Fianna Fáil will be supporting this Bill. I am taking this debate on behalf of my colleague, Senator Ned O’Sullivan, who is at a Seanad reform meeting.

We are supporting this Bill because it promotes overall Government transparency and will ensure that the Irish Government releases records in tandem with Northern Ireland and the UK. As the Minister has alluded to, the British and Northern Ireland archives have decided to release documents to the public after 20 years instead of 30 years. This will clearly include extensive correspondence between agencies and Departments in the UK and Northern Ireland and those in the Republic of Ireland. As the Minister has already stated, because Ireland does not release Government records until 30 years after their publication, this prevents historians, scholars and other interested parties from accessing Ireland's version of events until ten years after the release of UK documents.

As we are all aware, British and Irish relations are of a significantly complex and often contentious nature, even to this day. We believe it is very much in the public interest to ensure that the full picture is presented to the public. As it stands, Ireland's departmental records are not transferred for public release until 30 years after their creation. It is also true to say that many Departments do not release documents which the public is entitled to see even after the 30-year rule. This is something we as a party would like the Minister to look at to ensure documents are released to historians and other scholars and interested parties as a matter of priority.

Another difficulty we understand exists concerns the insufficient space or facilities to store information within the National Archives. Perhaps the Minister might comment on that. It does require significant investment. We are in total agreement with and supportive of this Bill. We will be encouraging the Minister to take it through this House as a matter of priority.