Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to amendment No. 26. This amendment is a variation of the cross-party amendment No. 24 but its purpose is the same. It seeks to clarify how GDPR and the related sections of the Data Protection Act 2018 will apply to the database deposited with the Minister under this legislation. The Minister will be aware that Article 15 relates to data subject access requests and is the key principle that underpins our European and national approach to data protection.It is built on the straightforward idea that an individual has a right to access the data relating to him or her held by the State. It is a crucial principle in general but it becomes even more vital in sensitive circumstances such as these, where the State holds vital information relating to adopted people and those who grew up in industrial settings like the mother and baby homes and where these documents are the key to finding and formulating their own identities. As a result, if these documents in the State's possession are central to the identity rights of the survivors concerned, then they have to be released.

Our concern is that Tusla has relied on highly conservative interpretations of the GDPR as to what information can be released to the survivors who request it. In correspondence with the Minister's Department - which I am grateful he facilitated - it was stated to me that the restrictions on access are justified under Article 23 of the GDPR to safeguard the operation of commissions and the future co-operation of witnesses. I fail to see how a survivor being given access to his or her own information and records could possibly harm a future commission and I remain unconvinced by this legal view. When I asked for further detail on this questionable legal interpretation, I was told the advice came from the Attorney General's office and that he had refused my request for the advice to be shared. I must tell the Minister that I cannot do my job as a legislator if his Department relies on contested and conservative legal advice on important proposed legislation and then does not go on to share that advice with Members of the Oireachtas. This legal interpretation by the Minister's Department and by Tusla is denying survivors their chance to know their histories themselves and potentially even meet a family member they previously did not know existed. This legal interpretation is relevant to the subject matter we are discussing and it is inexcusable that we cannot access it. I ask for the Minister's support in seeking a Government decision to share it with Members of the Oireachtas. While it may be too late for Senators, it could at least be shared with Deputies before the debates next week. I would appreciate it if a commitment in this regard could be placed on the record today.