[ad_1]
Survivors of mothers and babies homes may seek access to personal information collected by a state investigation, but the privacy rights of others and the state’s ability to conduct future investigations must be respected, the government has said.
The Household Investigation Commission for Mothers and Babies, which is chaired by former Circuit Court Judge Yvonne Murphy, will deliver its final 4,000-page report to the government on Friday.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said Attorney General Paul Gallagher has clarified that survivors can request personal information from the file of the Commission on Homes for Mothers and Babies.
The file will be transferred to the Minister once the report has been submitted.
Despite the clarification, O’Gorman cautioned that “this is not the answer” to all the problems survivors face and that “two tests” must be used before information can be released.
“The Data Protection Commissioner raised an issue about broader access to the file once it is transferred to my department. It was a major problem. We send it to the Attorney General of the Republic. They returned to my department tonight and clarified that the 2004 Act does not preclude the consideration of data access requests by my department, so my department is bound by GDPR as it relates to archiving, ”said O ‘ Gorman.
“Any request for data access to my department will have to be considered based on whether the request impacts the rights and freedoms of others, but we also have to consider whether the restriction on access to information is necessary or proportionate to safeguard the operation. of investigation commissions and future cooperation of witnesses. Those are the two tests my department will have to implement if we receive requests for personal information when the file arrives with us.
“My department will continue to work with the Data Protection Commissioner to ensure that we comply with the GDPR with any request.”
O’Gorman described the clarification as “helpful” but cautioned that “this is not the answer to all questions from survivors and the real answer, particularly for people who have been adopted, is adequate information and tracking legislation. “. He said he would introduce this legislation in 2021.
O’Gorman noted that under a new law enacted earlier this week, a separate search records database, which was compiled by the commission, will go to Tusla, the children’s and families agency. The legislation sparked protests and a heated debate in the Dáil over fears that records would be sealed for 30 years under the Commissions of Inquiry Act of 2004.
“The real meaning of all this for the survivors is that Tusla received the database through legislation and I believe that access to the database through Tusla is more beneficial to the survivors.”
However, O Gorman acknowledged that Tusla will still have to implement the “test regarding the rights and freedoms of others” when it receives data requests.
“There are still problems in relation to the lack of adequate information and tracking legislation. I am not claiming that none of these measures, the clarification of the Attorney General or the legislation that I introduced, will immediately solve the problem regarding access to personal information ”. He said competing rights of information and privacy will need to be addressed.
Former Minister for Children Katherine Zappone previously tried to adopt measures that would give adopted persons the right to information about their birth, however, her attempts were unsuccessful.
Ms. Zappone suggested at one point that a referendum may be required to ask people if the right to information prevails over the right to privacy of others. Mr O Gorman said that he would prefer “not to go the referendum route because I think the narrowness of this issue can be lost in the context of a referendum debate.”
“We would have to pay close attention to the GDPR implications of balancing the rights to information and a person’s right to privacy.” O’Gorman has promised to publish the commission’s final report “as soon as possible.”
After a lengthy discussion in the cabinet on the same issue, sources indicated that the government had the objective of publishing the report before the end of the year.
[ad_2]