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Thousands of child abuse records kept in storage costing €80,000 a year
Thousands of institutional child abuse records are sitting in a storage facility costing more than €80,000 a year, because of a failure to legislate to retain the records in the
National Archives of Ireland
.
The documents include allegations of abuse from about 15,600 survivors of industrial and reformatory schools. All of the survivors are under a strict legal gagging order that means they cannot discuss details of their redress case, and it is understood that the overwhelming majority have never had access to their redress board transcripts.
The State's independent advocate for survivors of institutional abuse has now called for all records relating to institutional abuse to be held in one place, where they would be accessible to survivors.
The
Residential Institutions Redress Board
(RIRB), which has paid out almost €1 billion in redress since 2002, accepted its last application in 2011. But the largely wound down board is running under a skeleton staff because it remains responsible for managing the sensitive files.
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The RIRB has spent more than €2.2 million in security and storage over the last 16 years, due to the sensitivity of the documents.
The Government had said that if and when a body like the RIRB was dissolved, the records it held would legally need to be destroyed. This had been contested by academics and survivor advocacy groups.
The RIRB was set up in 2002 to pay awards to those who suffered abuse as children in reformatory, industrial schools or other institutions that were regulated or inspected by the State. Survivors who were awarded redress lost the right to speak publicly about it. Under the legislation that set up the RIRB, it is a criminal offence to publish any information about a redress application or award, including details about the survivor, the alleged perpetrator and the institution.
The RIRB records, which are understood to be highly sensitive, include allegations of serious abuse against named perpetrators and detailed medical and psychological reports of survivors.
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In 2019 the Government tried to pass a law that would place the records of the RIRB and other redress bodies under a seal for 75 years. The legislation was abandoned after a backlash from survivors, their advocates and the public.
In 2022 the Government decided instead to set up a
National Centre for Research and Remembrance
for Ireland's many institutional abuse scandals. Martin Fraser, Ireland's ambassador to the UK, is leading a steering group tasked with setting up the centre, which will include an archive of records under the National Archive.
In July 2022 Mr Fraser met the RIRB to discuss some of the legislative issues around retaining the records. In its annual report for 2022 the RIRB said it was working with Mr Fraser's steering group 'so as to allow for the early introduction of legislation providing for the retention of the board's records so that as many victims and survivors as possible will benefit from that legislation'. Three years on, there is no sign of the legislation. The Irish Times understands there have been legal complexities about drafting such a law for the files.
A spokesman for the
Department of Education
said that 'while the original legislation provided for disposal of the records, it is now envisaged that new legislation will instead provide for the transfer of the records to the National Archives so that they can be preserved for posterity'.
'Work is ongoing on the complex and sensitive issues relating to the wide range of records which are relevant to the National Centre for Research and Remembrance, including those held by the RIRB,' the spokesman said.
Since 2009 the RIRB has spent more than €2.2 million on security arrangements due to the sensitivity of the documents it is responsible for. In 2009-2014 the RIRB spent more than €1.58 million on 24-hour security – around a quarter of a million a year – for its Belfield Office Park in Dublin 4 due to the sensitive nature of the documents it held. In 2014, after it moved to a new office on St Stephen's Green, the RIRB's security expenses dropped due to the existing security arrangements at its new office. In 2015-2023 the RIRB spent more than €696,000 on secure off-site storage for the files. In 2023, the year for which the most recent data is available, the cost of secure off-site storage was more than €83,800.
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Many survivors later complained they had found the RIRB to be 'adversarial' and felt as though they had been 'on trial'. Some were cross-examined during oral hearings by the religious congregations responsible for their alleged abuse.
Patricia Carey, the Special Advocate for Survivors of Institutional Abuse, said she was 'aware of the trauma and upset caused to survivors through the evidence giving and evidence testing process of the Residential Institutions Redress Board'.
'There is a frustration from survivors of all institutions that their files are not being held and stored in one place, where they would be accessible,' Ms Carey said.
Anyone who was awarded redress by the RIRB is entitled to a transcript of their testimony to the board. But it is understood that of the more than 15,000 survivors awarded redress, only a small minority have so far done so.
