Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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239. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the redress board and proposed legislation in respect of confidentiality of records of abuse being kept (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11020/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Following Government approval I have published the draft General Scheme for a Retention of Records Bill, 2015, and have referred it to the Joint Oireachtas Committee of Education and Social Protection for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny.

The draft General Scheme proposals relate to the records of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, the Residential Institutions Redress Board and the Residential Institutions Redress Review Committee. It proposes that on the dissolution of the bodies, their records will be deposited with the National Archives where they will be preserved and sealed for a period of 75 years. In keeping with the Motion adopted by this House following the publication of the Ryan Report, these proposals will allow the documentation received by the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse to be preserved for posterity and not destroyed. It is also proposed to preserve the documentation of the Residential Institutions Redress Board and Review Committee.

I believe that it is very important that these records are not destroyed. However I am also very conscious that these records are highly sensitive. Accordingly, it is proposed that the records will be sealed for 75 years and that their release thereafter will be subject to appropriate safeguards.