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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 2 Oct 2003

Vol. 571 No. 3

Written Answers. - Industrial and Reformatory Schools.

Dan Boyle

Ceist:

21 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason Barnados was selected to hold personal information on victims of institutional abuse; the scale and nature of such files; and the reason for comparatively easier access offered by Barnados versus the traditional route of going directly to his Department. [21546/03]

My Department processes requests for access to personal records from former residents of industrial and reformatory schools in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1997. It has been the experience of the Department that the Freedom of Information Act is sometimes not the most appropriate means of dealing with such requests as the records can, in some cases, contain sensitive information. In other cases, there may be no information. Furthermore, in many cases, the release of documents results in the need for individuals to be able to access services such as counselling, tracing and mediation. The Department, while recognising the need, is not best placed to offer such services to former residents.

Barnardos had already been involved in the process of record release in a limited number of situations where the nature of the record required a particularly sensitive and supportive manner of release. In order to provide a comprehensive and compassionate service and following a request from Barnardos, my Department agreed to support the provision of an information mediation service, Origins, for former residents of industrial or reformatory schools. My Department took account of the established competence and experience of Barnardos in the release of similar forms of information to persons in similar circumstances. The operation of Origins is governed by the terms of a service agreement which has been signed by both parties.

Barnardos, in its capacity as an agent of my Department, has been provided with an electronic copy of the archive of material held in relation to the operation of the former industrial and reformatory schools. This archive comprises general files, medical files, individual pupil-family files, journals-registers and kardex cards and is made up of circa 500,000 individual records.
The latest available figures show that, at the end of August 2003, my Department has received just over 5,000 individual requests from former residents of industrial and reformatory schools. Due to the volume of requests received, there is, unfortunately, a considerable delay in processing these requests. Origins is a relatively new service and, consequently, they don't have to deal with the same level of requests. Access to records will, therefore, undoubtedly be quicker by electing to go the Origins-Barnardos route. This coupled with the fact that former residents meet face to face with fully trained counsellors, means that information can be released in a more appropriate environment. Origins also has the added attraction of being able to provide counselling, tracing and mediation services.
While I would actively encourage former residents to avail of this worthwhile service, I would also like to reiterate that it is only an alternative to the Freedom of Information route and entirely optional for former residents as to which route they wish to pursue. All former residents may exercise their statutory rights and apply to my Department for access to their records under the terms of the freedom of information Act 1997 if they so wish.
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