Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 January 2021
257. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reason the sixth interim report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was withheld until the release of the final report from the commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3183/21]
View answerThe Sixth Interim Report was published in full on 12 January. It is available on my Department's website. This is in line with the commitment I gave last year to publish the Sixth Interim Report in tandem with the Final Report.
The Sixth Interim Report, when originally prepared, contained a technical report related to one chapter of the final conclusions of the report. The then Attorney General advised that this constituted evidence to the Commission and had to be returned to the Commission. All copies held by the Department were destroyed. This content of the technical report is now captured in the final report along with the relevant final conclusions of the Commission.
Another issue raised in the Interim Report is the preservation and transfer of the Commission's records. Most significantly, the Report clearly identifies the challenges and opportunities related to the Commission's archive and its database, which I addressed through the Records Act 2020. The Report also included a request for an extension of time and then Government agreed to an extension end June 2020.
