Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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On 28 February 2021, with the dissolution of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, my Department became the data controller for all the personal data contained in the records and databases that transferred from the Commission.

My Department is responsible for fulfilling data subject rights, including the right of access to personal data. I am very mindful of the importance to people who were born in Mother and Baby Homes of access to their personal data.

My Department is committed to meeting its obligations as a data controller when dealing with Subject Access Requests (SARs) and is responding on a case by case basis to individuals in accordance with the requirements of GDPR.

As of 18 March 2022, my Department received 562 SARs relating to the Mother and Baby Homes archive and responded to 480 of these.

While the archive is largely a digital one, some physical records also transferred to the Department on the dissolution of the Commission. Individuals were previously advised that where physical records relating to them were retrieved following searches of the records, they would be provided with copies of the records. The physical records continue to be catalogued by the Department’s archivist. Searches of the physical records are being conducted as may be appropriate in the circumstances of each request. Records retrieved are provided to individuals as previously advised to them in correspondence relating to their SAR.

On 10 March 2022, the Minister for Health signed the new Data Protection Act 2018 (Access Modifications) (Health) Regulations 2022. These new Regulations replace the existing Data Protection (Access Modification) (Health) Regulations 1989. They remove the mandatory requirement to consult a health practitioner in every case and permit a data controller to exercise his/her discretion to consult in appropriate situations.

The Regulations will have a particularly positive impact for individuals seeking to access their health data in the Mother and Baby Homes archive as it will no longer be mandatory in all cases to consult the individual’s health practitioner before releasing their health data to them. The new Regulations will facilitate access to an individual’s health data in a more timely manner.

Following the making of the new Regulations, my Department is reviewing all SAR responses where health data was previously withheld and is working to provide health data to individuals as quickly as possible. Individuals who are awaiting the release of their health data do not need to take any action at this time and my Department will be in contact with them at an early date. My Department is also working to provide health data under GDPR to those individuals who previously opted to receive their health data under FOI as an interim measure pending the making of the new health Regulations.