Backup tapes may contain erased mother and baby home witness testimony

Children's minister Roderic O'Gorman emphasised to the Seanad that backup files of deleted witness testimony which the commission had found "may" be accessible. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Survivors of mother and baby homes have been given fresh hope after the commission of investigation said it has found backup files that may contain their witness recordings.

It comes after weeks of campaigning by survivors and opposition parties who have criticised the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation for destroying 550 interviews without taking verbatim transcripts of them.

Children's minister Roderic O'Gorman told the Seanad that the commission contacted him yesterday to say that the backup files have been found. He requested that the commission exhaust all possibilities of retrieving the recordings.

However, Mr O'Gorman said he didn't want to "unduly raise expectations" as it is still unclear if they will contain the wiped audio and he hopes to get more information from the commission later today.

He said he understands the anger felt by survivors, many of whom say they did not consent to the deletion of their testimony and has been working to find a solution and "to make sure that their voices are heard and then they're protected".

Yesterday, the commission informed me that they had become aware of backup tapes held which may — and I have to stress the word may — contain the audio files of the personal accounts given to the confidential committee.

The minister said he immediately responded to the commission to arrange urgently for these tapes and their content to be made available to his department as part of the transfer of the archive which is beginning to occur.

The minister said he immediately responded to the commission to arrange urgently for these tapes and their content to be made available to his department as part of the transfer of the archive which is beginning to occur.

However, he added: "I just want to stress, I don't want to unduly raise expectations about these tapes. I very much hope they will contain the audio recordings of the 549 people who consented to be recorded.

"But it is not until the tapes are retrieved, that they're reconnected to the parent IT system, and that they're transferred to my department that my department will be able to ascertain this for a fact.

I think we are all aware that sometimes technology can let us down, these tapes are backup tapes, they're disaster recovery tapes and that's their function.

Even if the recordings are on the tapes, he said he would have to seek legal advice from the Attorney General as to whether the content could be made available.