The Government will breach European and Irish law by sealing the records of mother and baby homes for 30 years, the Office of the Data Protection Commission has claimed. Under the 2004 act, the remaining archives and survivor testimony will be sealed for 30 years, meaning they are withheld from families. There has also been widespread criticism of the legislation by opposition TDs, who say it has been rushed through without proper scrutiny. Explicit amendmentsThe office of the data protection has now said sealing the records breaches European and Irish law in relation to people's right to access their personal data and that this was communicated to the Department of Children ahead of the drafting of the new mother and baby homes bill. However, deputy data protection commissioner Graham Doyle said the 2018 Data Protection Act, drafted to enact the EU’s powerful General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) within Irish law “explicitly amended” the Commissions of Investigation Act in relation to access to personal data.

Source: Irish Examiner October 24, 2020 05:30 UTC