Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for her kind words. I do not propose to go into Senator Warfield's amendment No. 7 again. I did actually address his question about the Attorney General.

On the 1926 census, the view of the Central Statistics Office is that any weakening of the existing 100 year guarantee of confidentiality would result in undermining the public trust in the confidentiality of the census and would be detrimental to the collection of data, particularly in the economic, business and social sectors, where difficulties in data collection are already encountered. However there is much preparatory work which can be done to prepare for the release of the 1926 census and this is something that I do wish to progress.

I thank the members of the Seanad for their interest in and contributions on what is a very important Bill and I acknowledge the support of Members in facilitating its passage through this House. There has been significant deliberation about the task of moving to a 20 year rule, both around the necessity for the change and the resources needed to effect it. This legislation provides a mechanism to allow for the release of records over 20 years old to the National Archives and thereby to the public, while recognising the significant resourcing issues. It provides the flexibility for Departments to release certain classes of records earlier than the standard 30 years, if the Minister feels the historical or public interest value of the records warrants early release. I have taken the view that, notwithstanding the resource implications involved, the pragmatic approach in this Bill gives a workable way forward to allow for the early release of records of significant historical or public interest value. Given the extent of our shared history with the United Kingdom, I know that the restoration of the synchronised release of official records on such issues would be widely welcomed. I thank the Members of the House for their co-operation in expediting the passage of this Bill.