Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The amendment allows the director of the National Archives to be part of the decision-making process on whether 20 year old State records are deemed to be of "significant historical or public interest". I do not think this decision should be an entirely political one, nor should politicians have the final say. The Bill leaves no scope for transparency or accountability for these decisions. While I appreciate that the records can be sensitive in nature, these records could be reviewed with independent and apolitical oversight by the director of the National Archives. Deputy Peadar Tóibín and I have asked the Minister to suggest an appropriate office to conduct such reviews, and I would like to ask the Minister to finally accept this amendment, in the absence of an alternative as far as I can see.