Publication
Institutional Records Searches
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on
Last updated on
No, you do not need to include any records showing time spent in an institution, however if you do have institutional records in your possession and wish to include these with your application, please do so.
You simply need to confirm that you (or the person you are applying for) spent time in a scheduled institution and include the name of the institution(s).
You will also be asked to provide an indication, or your best estimate, of the dates of arrival to and departure from the institution(s). We understand that not everyone will know the exact arrival and departure dates from the institution(s) concerned, so if this is the case, don’t worry.
If you don’t know the name of the institution you were in, and you spent time in the institution as a mother, you may be able to get information on the institution by making a Data Subject Access Request.
If you spent time in the institution as a child, and you were adopted or boarded out, you may be able to get information through the Birth, Information and Tracing Service. Further information is available at www.birthinfo.ie. .
We have access to a number of archives containing the institutional records for Mother and Baby, and County Home Institutions. We will carry out extensive searches of these archives to find your date of entry and date of exit from the institution or institutions you applied for. This process can sometimes be complex and take time.
You can provide dates to the best of your knowledge when you apply. These will be used to assist with searches. There is no requirement to provide records with your application, but if you wish to do so these will also be considered and may help in establishing an entry and exit date. It may be necessary for us to call you to clarify details about your time in an institution and we may need to request an affidavit from you. A call will only proceed if you are comfortable with it and can be re-scheduled for a time that suits you if you wish.
An affidavit is a statement that is sworn in front of a Commissioner for Oaths or practising solicitor.
You may be asked to provide an affidavit in relation to your time in an institution where it is not possible to confirm a date of entry or exit from the institution following records searches. A member of the Search Team will call you to explain why an affidavit is needed and then you will receive a letter requesting this.
If the Payment Scheme Office requests an affidavit from you following record searches, financial support of €200 is available and will be paid directly to you when the Payment Scheme Office receives the affidavit.
Please note that this €200 financial support towards the cost of providing an affidavit is not available for affidavits provided to confirm that you are a personal representative in an estate case.