Survivors of abuse, along with legal experts and academics have lined up in opposition to controversial legislation to seal millions of child abuse records for 75 years.

An advisory council to the National Archives told the Government as far back as 2013 that it was possible to seal child abuse records for longer than 30 years.

The files of vaccine trial victims in Bessborough Mother and Baby Home were altered in 2002 — just weeks after the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse sought discovery of records from the order running the home.