Ivana Bacik (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 25:

In page 5, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following:

“Minister to publish an Index to the Commission’s archive

6. (1) Within four weeks of the Commission’s deposit of evidence and records with the Minister under subsection (2) of section 43 of the Act of 2004, the Minister shall lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas an Index to all of the evidence and records so deposited. (2) The Index to which this section relates shall be anonymised to the extent necessary and proportionate to protect individuals in their private capacity.”.

Amendment No. 25 has the same purpose as amendment No. 27 and was tabled in the names of the Labour Party Senators. I am aware that other colleagues have also tabled the same amendment. We seek to ensure that an anonymised index would be prepared for the database and the archive. That is patently essential to make sense of it, to ensure that people know what it is in it and to give comfort to the many survivors who hope to be able to access their own information or information relating to family members in the future. I will not say more on it because I am conscious that the Minister gave a reply earlier to a question asked by a colleague, which indicated that an index would indeed be prepared for the archives.

I do not know if the Minister responded earlier to my question about a timeline for the information and tracing legislation being in place. Again, that is very important to provide some context for all of us in debating this Bill. I look forward to hearing the response of the Minister on the preparation of an index and on the timeline for information and tracing legislation.