Department slammed over delays giving access to mother and baby homes records

 Claire McGettrick, co-founder of the Adoption Rights Alliance.

The Department of Children has come under fire for further delays in providing access to records and testimony given to the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation.

Co-founder of the Adoption Rights Alliance, Claire McGettrick said individuals who gave evidence to the mother and baby homes commission had a right to know what is happening with the personal information they shared but were now facing “unacceptable” delays since the commission dissolved at the end of February.

The publication of the Commission’s final report earlier this year drew criticism from many survivors, who felt their testimony was not accurately reflected in the more than 2,000-page document.

The Commission also came under fire for destroying the oral testimony given by more than 500 people without their knowledge or consent.

Ms McGettrick, who had a lead role in the Clann Project that collated the testimony of dozens of survivors, made a subject access request (SAR) to the Commission for her own records before it wound down.

The Commission, however, said it could not respond in time given the large number of requests received and passed the request to the Department of Children, which has now assumed responsibility for all records.

'Complexity'

The Department of Children has since advised Ms McGettrick that it needs an extra two months to respond given the “complexity” of her request.

“My question and the reason for the request is what happened to my statement? Like many other people I submitted my evidence but it wasn’t reflected in the report. So was it opened and where is it now? Was it destroyed?

She added she and others had not been given an option on whether their personal testimony would be included in an archive of mother and baby home records.

Ms McGettrick said others had received similar responses but that the delay was hard to fathom.

“We’re not entirely sure what’s so complex about these requests. The Clann Project was a comprehensive submission that was catalogued really clearly in a way that would make the information easily accessible. So it is difficult to understand what the complexity is,” she said.

It’s my data. I have a right to it. I have a right to know what became of it and it’s unacceptable to delay things any further

The Department of Children confirmed it is dealing with 145 requests for records as of last Friday and that a new unit has been established to manage the “hugely important work” of the Commission.

A spokesperson for the Department of Children said: “Prior to the dissolution of the Commission of Investigation, the Department worked intensively to ensure that it is properly resourced to handle subject access requests from people who were resident in mother and baby homes. It has established a new Unit to look after this hugely important work and consulted a number of experts.” 

The Department said a number of requests were passed on by the Commission and that the time limit for responding to a request only began when the identity of the applicant was verified.

The one-month timeframe for responding can be extended by two months under current legislation where the request is deemed 'complex', the Department said.

“The Department has communicated with any individuals where the Department has not responded to a subject access request within the one-month period and it will keep requesters regularly updated on the progress of their subject access request,” a spokesperson said.