Written answers

Wednesday, 22 September 2021

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries

Photo of Holly CairnsHolly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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144. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if a subject access request from survivors seeking personal information from the archive of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes will be facilitated without the requirement for a nominated general practitioner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45701/21]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Currently, under Data Protection Regulations, a data controller who is not a health practitioner is required to consult with an appropriate health practitioner before supplying any health data to the data subject concerned. My Department, as a data controller, must apply the Regulations when records contain health data. The Regulations do not enable the exercise of any discretion by the data controller and require consultation with an appropriate health practitioner in all cases.

What this means in practice, for the moment, is that where health data is included in the data due to be provided to a data subject, my Department is releasing all other non-health related information in the first instance, but, to give effect to the Regulations, is asking the requestor for the details of their health practitioner in order to consult him/her, before releasing the health data. Once the requestor’s health practitioner has reviewed the health data and has determined that it can be released, my Department will release the personal data in question to the requestor. My Department has already done this for a number of requestors.

I am not satisfied with this requirement and am working in conjunction with the Minister for Health, to amend the regulations.

In the interim, and in order to facilitate the timely release of information, my Department is also making requestors aware that Freedom of Information legislation, which is separate to the General Data Protection Regulation, provides an alternative route or additional routeby which they may also access the health data concerned. Under that legislation, the involvement of a health professional in relation to releasing health records is discretionary rather than mandatory.

My Department is seeking to ensure that individuals are aware that it is open to them to make a request under both GDPR and FOI if that is their wish and my Department provides health data to individuals in accordance with each legislative framework.

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