Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2026
794. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if there is a specific archaeological report for Bessborough in the archive of the Mother and Baby Home Commission of Inquiry held by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45447/26]
View answerThe reports of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes are available at the following links: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/publications/final-report-of-the-commission-of-investigation-into-mother-and-baby-homes
and www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/collections/interim-reports-of-the-commission-of-investigation-into-mother-and-baby-homes-and-certain-related-matters/.
Information about the Commission’s investigations in relation to burials of people who were resident in the former institution at Bessborough are set out in Chapter 4 of its fifth interim report and Chapter 38a of its final report.
The arrangements for preserving the records compiled by a Commission of Investigation in the course of its work are prescribed in Section 43(2) of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. This provides that, prior to its dissolution, a Commission must deposit all records with the prescribed Minister. On the expiry of a 30-year period thereafter, such records will be transferred to the National Archives where access is regulated in accordance with the National Archives Act 1986.
As an archive deposited with the Minister under section 43(2) the 2004 Act, the Commission’s records are subject to a general principle of confidentiality. The Department is the custodian of the archive until such time as it is transferred to the National Archives in accordance with the provisions of section 8 of the 1986 Act. Pending transfer to the National Archives, access to the archive can only be provided in response to access requests under the GDPR, where such records contain personal data, and Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation, insofar as FOI legislation applies to the records.
