Mother and Baby Home Records

In 2015, the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters was established by the government to provide a full account of what happened to the women and children in these homes from 1922 to 1998.

Earlier this year, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth became the data controller for all the personal data contained in the Commission’s records and databases.

This department is now responsible for protecting and fulfilling important rights of the individuals who are identified or identifiable in the Mother and Baby Homes (MBH) records. These rights are recognised in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union.

If you were a:

• former resident of one of the homes
• relative of the former residents, including adoptive family members
• Mother and Baby Home employee or service provider
• person who gave evidence to the Confidential Committee
• member of a religious order associated with the MBHs
• healthcare professional associated with the MBHs
• State official associated with the MBHs

You are invited to come forward and provide your up-to-date contact details. That way, if we receive a request under GDPR seeking information which includes some of your data, we will be able to make contact with you so that we can take your views into account.

Please email us, write to us or call us with:

• your name
• details about how you might be identified in the Mother and Baby Home archive
• your preferred contact details

Contact details:

Address for letters

Information Management Unit.

Dept of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth,

Miesian Plaza, Baggot Street, Dublin 2.

Email address: imumediacampaign@equality.gov.ie

Phone number: +353 1 647 3281

Please be assured that your information will be maintained securely and only seen or used by those processing data protection requests. Please visit our website Transfer of records from the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation for further information in relation to the types of data the department holds and how that data is used by the department. This website also provides information on how to make a Subject Access Request, should you wish to do so.

Please be aware that this notice relates to Subject Access Requests under the GDPR only. Separately, the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 provides that an application may be made to a designated ‘relevant body’ for access to birth and early life information in line with the process set out in the Act. The Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) and Tusla have been designated as relevant bodies under the Act. An information request under the Act may be made through the www.birthinfo.ie website.