Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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1257. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if family members can access prison records of deceased family who were interned in the Curragh in 1940 through freedom of information; and if these records are sealed. [15093/21]

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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1258. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the person or body to which freedom of information requests by family members of deceased relatives who were interned in the Curragh in the 1940s should be submitted. [15094/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1257 and 1258 together.

In 2006, the Department of Justice in 2006 established the Archives Advisory Group, which was chaired by Professor Mary Daly, College of Arts and Celtic Studies, UCD and included leading historians on modern Irish history. The Group advised the Department on the historical value of the archive records which it holds, or are under its control, which are over 30 years old. The Group was also given the task of advising the Department on the arrangements it could put in place to make these records available for the purpose of advancing academic research, including any guidelines and conditions that could be applied by the Department in granting access to the records for that purpose.

In 2012, former Minister Shatter oversaw the transfer of over 950 files, including those related to those persons interned during the Emergency, from the Department’s archive covering the period 1940 – 1943 to the National Archives. A small number of records were retained because they contain personal information which, if released, might cause distress to family members still alive. In addition, abstractions were made from a number of files for similar reasons.

I would suggest to the Deputy that, in the first instance, persons seeking records from that period should visit the National Archives website, which has an easy to use search function for file titles. To facilitate searching the National Archives you will be interested to note that in the vast majority of cases, each person that was interned during the Emergency had an individual file opened with the file title including the person’s name, address and stated that they were interned under the Emergency Powers Acts.

If the Deputy wishes to pass on the details of an individual in particular I will also arrange for officials to search my Department’s records and will revert on whether a record exists and if so whether it is located with my Department or the National Archives.  

Broadly speaking, the Freedom of Information Act does not apply to non-personal records held by my Department that were created before 21 April 1998. For personal information, including that of a spouse or a next of kin of the individual, there is a right of access to pre-1998 records. An FOI request may be submitted to my Department in writing or by email.