Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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235. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence where the military archives for the past 50 years are held; if they are accessible to the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37793/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The National Archives of Ireland Act, 1986 places an obligation on Departments of State and Scheduled Bodies (of which the Defence Forces is one) to make their records available for public inspection when they become 30 years old, as required under Section 8 of the Act, or else to apply for a certificate to withhold those records for public inspection where to do so would:

1. Be contrary to the public interest.

2. Would or might constitute a breach of statutory duty, or a breach of good faith on the ground that they contain information given in confidence.

3. Would or might cause distress or danger to living persons on the grounds that they contain information about individuals, or would or might likely lead to an action for damages or defamation.

Since 1990, the Military Archives has been the statutory place of deposit for the records of the Defence Forces, the Department of Defence, and the Army Pensions Board, as provided for by Section 14 of the Act and authorised by An Taoiseach.

In accordance with the ’30 year rule’, the ‘military archives’ for the last 50 years are therefore understood as the records dating from 1945-1995 (i.e. at least 30 years old). All records over 30 years old that have been transferred by the Defence Forces, the Department of Defence, and the Army Pensions Board are held on the premises of the Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Rathmines, Dublin 6 and those records that have been certified for public inspection by the relevant Certifying Officer under Section 3 of the National Archives Act, 1986, Regulations 1988, are publicly accessible there. The Reading Room is open Tuesday to Thursday by appointment.

The current Military Archives building was opened in 2016, including a state-of-the-art, climate controlled repository with approximately 21 linear kilometres of shelving. Since this facility came on stream in 2016 the Military Archives has both transferred the records already in its custody at its former storage locations, and accessioned records from the Defence Forces, the Department of Defence and Army Pensions Board.