Government breaking the law by sealing mother and baby homes records, says DPC

In passing the legislation on Thursday evening, Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said that his advice from the Attorney General was that access to the records had been explicitly restricted by the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

The Government has contravened European and Irish law with regard to the accessibility of personal data by voting to seal the records of mother and baby homes for thirty years.

The Data Protection Commission was consulted by the Department of Children ahead of the drafting of the new mother and baby homes bill regarding the Data Protection Impact Assessment it had commissioned concerning the legislation.