Roderic O'Gorman

The legislation forms part of the Maternity Protection, Employment Equality and Preservation of Certain Records Act 2024, which was signed into law by the President on 28 October.

Part 3 of the Act, which provides for the preservation of privately-held records, comes into operation today.

It covers relevant records relating to Magdalen laundries, mother and baby and county home institutions, industrial schools, orphanages, adoption agencies and boarding out arrangements, as well as the bodies that ran or oversaw these institutions and placement arrangements.

It is now an offence for holders of relevant records to destroy, mutilate, falsify, fail to maintain or to export them from the State.

This does not apply to survivors or affected persons, or their families, who hold records relating to themselves and their own institutional experiences.

The legislation also permits the Director of the National Archives to engage with potential private holders and request a statement of the relevant records they hold.

Equality minister Roderic O’Gorman said: “I am pleased that this important legislation is now in place. It ensures that records, which support an understanding of people’s identities and the institutional systems that shaped their life experiences, are preserved so that future access to them is not rendered impossible.”

“It is important that those who hold relevant records are aware of their obligations and the related offences under this new legislation.”