DPC requested to investigate deletion of Mother and Baby Home testimony

There are fears that the three-strong Mother and Baby Homes Commission would resign en masse if it was extended in order to eke out the details of the deletions. File photo: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

A formal investigation into the deletion of audio testimony given to the Mother and Baby Homes Commission has been requested of the Data Protection Commission.

The Social Democrats has written to the online privacy regulator asking for an official investigation into the irretrievable destruction of audio recordings of survivors without a full transcript being taken.

Party TD for Wicklow Jennifer Whitmore wrote to the regulator on Tuesday to state her concerns about the destruction of the 550 witness testimonies.

She said the action may be in breach of articles 6 and 9 of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which concern the processing of special categories of, or sensitive, personal data and the lawfulness of data processing.

“We believe the destruction of these files does not have a legal basis under any national or EU statute,” Ms Whitmore said. She requested that the DPC open an own volition inquiry into the Commission regarding the deletion of the data.

The DPC has already been in contact with the Commission, which was formed in 2015 and is due to close at the end of this month, asking it to provide the justification and legal basis for the deletion of the records.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Ms Whitmore said that she had yet to receive a reply from the regulator.

“We’re talking down the clock now,” she said with reference to the imminent closure of the Commission.

After the decades of trauma and hurt that survivors of #MotherandBabyHomes have endured, @WhitmoreJen says she is baffled at the Minister’s refusal to consider extending the term of the Commission of Investigation by one year to February 2022.https://t.co/AdH5dtrbdq

— Social Democrats (@SocDems) February 16, 2021

The Social Democrats has called for a one-year extension to the Commission in order to eke out the details of the deletions, with mooted legislation regarding same having led to suggestions that the three-strong Commission would resign en masse should an extension transpire.

“If the Commission decided to resign en masse that in itself would tell a story,” she said. “If they resign then that is their own decision, but there has to be some way that the questions of survivors can be answered.

“I think the Government needs to do what it is responsible for, what survivors need, and that is to extend the Commission.”