I ask the Taoiseach, on International Women's Day, as it happens, for a commitment from this Government to bring forward legislation, and it needs to be emergency legislation, to ensure records and all relevant documents relating to Magdalen laundries and residents of those institutions are preserved and protected and that it would be a criminal offence to alter, destroy or dispose of any of these documents. There is an ongoing context to this, but the reason I raise the issue this morning specifically is related to the launch of a book yesterday, entitled A Dublin Magdalene Laundry: Donnybrook and Church-State Power in Ireland. It was edited by Dr. Mark Coen, Dr. Katherine O'Donnell and Dr. Maeve O'Rourke.

The specific issue relates to the fact that following a decision by the Information Commissioner, on appeal, to allow a Magdalen survivor access archives under freedom of information, FOI, Dr. O'Rourke requested all records relating to Donnybrook Magdalen laundry be made available under FOI. The response from the Department of the Taoiseach was that searching through the archive for certain records would be so expensive, it could not be countenanced under FOI and that editors should make individual requests to various Departments, which originally gave their records to the interdepartmental committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen laundries. All except one of the FOI requests were refused. The excuses were as long as your arm. How did the editors of this book get access to all of this important information? It was by chance. I do not have time to go through it, but it took extraordinary dedication and commitment and an element of luck to source it. This should never be the case.

Will the Government consider bringing forward a Bill similar, in intent at least, to the Preservation of Documents (Historical Institutions) Bill, which was the final legislation agreed by the Northern Ireland Assembly last March, on a cross-party basis? It is really important legislation. We need similar legislation here now. We have a chaotic and totally unsatisfactory situation at present with regard to these records. Some dioceses allow access and others do not. It is grossly unfair to survivors. However, it is essential this State steps up and takes full and final responsibility to make up just a little for the responsibility it abrogated at that time. I am asking the Taoiseach to ensure these records and this information are preserved and that it would be a criminal offence for any person or institution to seek to destroy or dispose of this information.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. We are giving consideration to further legislation in this area, although it will not be emergency legislation. We already have the National Archives Act and there are already offences with regard to the destruction of public documents, but I appreciate that does not apply beyond the State sector. My understanding is that the archive is not held in the Department of the Taoiseach anymore. It has not been held there for some time. That may have been why people were wrongly given the runaround when it came to FOI. The archive is held by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth at present.

The McAleese archive, which relates to mother and baby institutions, will be preserved as part of a major work under way to establish a national centre for research and remembrance. Last March, Government approved a plan for a national centre for research and remembrance which will be located on the site of the former Magdalen laundry on Sean McDermott Street in Dublin 1. The centre will stand as a site of conscience and will be a national memorial to honour equally all those who were resident in industrial schools, reformatories, Magdalen laundries, mother and baby institutions and all other institutions. It is shocking that, back in the 1950s and 1960s, more than 10% of the population was living in one form of institution or another.

The centre will comprise a museum and exhibition space, the development of which will be led by the National Museum of Ireland, a research centre and a repository of records relating to institutional trauma in the 20th century that will form part of the National Archives. There will also be a place for reflection and remembrance. As part of the development, there will be social housing and educational and community facilities, and it will be a valuable addition to the social and economic infrastructure in Dublin's north-east inner city. One unique aspect of the central repository will be the inclusion of personal testimonies of survivors, allowing their lived experience to be formally recognised and kept forever. The inclusion of personal testimonies will ensure the lived experience of survivors will be captured in their own words for publication and archiving in the national centre.

The initiative will be underpinned by statute - there will be a law on it - and will operate on a voluntary basis, with personal accounts received and utilised only with the consent of participants. Work on the creation of the central repository of records in the national centre is being led by the National Archives. This work is supported by a dedicated legal and legislative subgroup, which is considering whether any additional legislative measures are needed to enable the creation and management of the archive. It is also worth pointing out that the Birth Information and Tracing Act already provides an important foundation for the creation of this repository because it mandates the safeguarding of relevant records, which is now law. The Act was commenced on 3 October 2022.

The Taoiseach did not really answer my question. I asked him about the legislation, which I certainly categorise as emergency legislation, while the Taoiseach may not, but he told me about the national centre for research and remembrance. What will be on the shelves? What about all these gaps in information? The Taoiseach talked about the fact it is a site of conscience. It is time we examined our conscience and made some reparation for the sins that were committed in our name for this State. The commission of investigation recommended that all records be given to the National Archives. I am not asking the Taoiseach to do anything except to protect these records and ensure anybody who tries to interfere with, damage or destroy them will be guilty of a criminal offence. We can have the discussion and debate afterwards. Will he give the commitment this morning that those records will be protected by this State?

I will come back to the Deputy with a more detailed reply, because the question is valid and I may not be able to answer it fully today. It is intended we will have all records that are held by the State in the repository and any personal testimonies, subject to the consent of the people involved. The National Archives Act already protects documents, as does the Birth Information and Tracing Act, but perhaps that does not cover all the documents to which the Deputy referred, that is, those that are held in private ownership. Perhaps that is what the Deputy is zeroing in on. I ask the Deputy to allow me to look into that and come back to her with a proper answer as soon as I can.