The Government has approved the text of a Bill which it says will safeguard and protect records of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.
The Bill deals with the arrangements for the transfer and management of the records of the Commission of Investigation upon its dissolution.
The records include databases and related information on the mothers and children who were resident in the main mother and baby homes, which have been compiled by the Commission of Investigation in the course of its work.
The Commission will publish the findings of its five-year investigation this month.
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Roderic O'Gorman has said the new legislation will ensure that the archive of records and databases compiled by the Commission "will be appropriately protected".
The legislation facilitates the direct transfer of certain databases and records relating to the former residents of the institutions being examined from the Commission to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.
Tusla was the source of the majority of the primary records utilised by the Commission in developing this database.
Minister O'Gorman says it is the obvious choice as the appropriate statutory agency to receive the Commission’s database and related records at this time.
He says the agency also has current statutory functions, professional social work and related expertise in adoption-related services and activities.
The minister has also noted that the Bill will not, in of itself, create any new rights or entitlements to access birth and early life information from within the evidence and records of the Commission of Investigation.
"The complex constitutional and legal issues in seeking to provide a robust basis for expanding access to birth information can only be addressed by future legislation, and I am committed to advancing this matter".
The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes report will be published on 30 October.
