No danger of testimonies being destroyed, says commission

HUNDREDS of thousands of documents and witness testimonies compiled by the Child Abuse Commission are not in any imminent danger of destruction, the commission said.

No decision has been taken about what to do with the sensitive papers and the Commission said that despite some reports to the contrary, it is under no set deadline for clearing its desks.

The vast majority of evidence gathered by the Commission was given under guarantee of confidentiality, but concerns have been expressed that valuable information could be lost if the paper trail was destroyed. Labour’s Joan Burton, who raised the issue in the Dáil, said: “I understand it may be necessary for the documents to be held confidentially for a protracted period, but it would seem extraordinary for the records of the Ryan Commission to be disposed of.”