Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On amendment No. 7, I appreciate the points that were made by Senator McDowell and I had hoped that I could support this. It addresses those supplying a document or a record of information. However, my concern is on those who may have given testimony and statements and I was worried about a blurring of the line around such a document as might be a record of a testimony and so forth. I appreciate that should not be the case as these seem to be documents going into the confidential committee. My concern is that if the amendment were successful, the presumption might be made - and this presumption seemed to made previously by he commission - that all have chosen privacy.

I was not objecting to the 2015 order. My concern is the 2015 order was not fully and properly conducted in regard to the confidential committee where it required to provide in their procedures for individuals who wished to have their identities remain confidential during the conduct of the commission and its subsequent reporting. That was a narrow power in terms of privacy. It did not extend to documentation. Nuance is needed and, where possible, documents should be subject to regulation so that they are used appropriately. The right to privacy explicitly related to testimony and it was a right for those who wished to have their identities remain confidential during the conduct of the commission and its subsequent reporting. There was an ambiguity there.

We have heard sincere concerns expressed on either side. I am happy if it is the Minister who has regulation but it is clear that for any of these explicitly sensitive records of the confidential committee, there must be regulations that uphold the rights of those who need anonymity and privacy and of those who wish to have the right to have their stories told and have their names included. That must be balanced with the rights of the public interest. All of those rights are contained in the data protection regulation. Before processing of such records would take place, there would need to be clear regulations that set out and balance all of those competing rights we have heard of. That is why I have an amendment seeking that the Minister would set those regulations. I understand others have called for the commission to address that balancing of concerns before it transfers the records to the Minister.I think because it is a very large task, it would be very difficult for the commission to do. It may be that the records need to transfer, but it needs to be very explicit that no processing would take place until the Minister would put appropriate regulation in place. Either way, there is clearly a task of balancing to be done in this regard.