National Archives Act 1986
Archives and Departmental records.
2.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, “archives” includes—
(a) such records and documents (and copies of them) as are, at the commencement of this Act, held in the Public Record Office of Ireland or the State Paper Office,
(b) Departmental records transferred to and accepted for preservation by the National Archives under this Act,
(c) other records or documents (and copies of them) acquired permanently or on loan by the National Archives from public service organisations, institutions or private individuals,
(d) all public records held at the commencement of this section elsewhere than in the Public Record Office of Ireland under an Act repealed by this Act.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, “Departmental records” means any of the following—
books,
maps,
plans,
drawings,
papers,
files,
photographs,
films,
microfilms and other micrographic records,
sound recordings,
pictorial records,
magnetic tapes,
magnetic discs,
optical or video discs,
other machine-readable records,
other documentary or processed material,
made or received, and held in the course of its business, by a Department of State within the meaning of section 1(2) or any body which is a committee, commission or tribunal of enquiry appointed from time to time by the Government, a member of the Government or the Attorney General, and includes copies of any such records duly made, but does not include—
(i) grants, deeds or other instruments of title relating to property for the time being vested in the State, and
(ii) any part of the permanent collection of a library, museum or gallery.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall prevent a Department of State from retaining a copy of any record transferred under this Act to the National Archives.
Annotations
Modifications (not altering text):
C2
Application of subs. (2) extended (20.03.2024) by Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023 (20/2023), s. 107, S.I. No. 67 of 2024.
Deposit with Minister of records in possession of Chief Deciding Officer
17. All records in the possession of the Chief Deciding Officer shall, on the dissolution day or as soon as possible after that day, be deposited with the Minister and, in so far as the records comprise personal data and special categories of personal data, those records—
(a) shall be Departmental records (within the meaning of section 2(2) of the National Archives Act 1986), and
...
C3
Application of subs. (2) restricted (15.07.2022) by Institutional Burials Act 2022 (18/2022), s. 107, S.I. No. 356 of 2022.
Deposit of records of Director with relevant Minister
107. All records in a Director’s possession shall, on the dissolution day or as soon as possible after that day, be deposited with the relevant Minister and, in so far as the records comprise personal data and special categories of personal data, those records—
(a) shall not be Departmental records (within the meaning of section 2(2) of the National Archives Act 1986), and
...
C4
Application of Act extended (2.08.2011) by Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 (23/2011), s. 47, commenced on enactment.
Interpretation (Part 15).
44.— In this Part—
“relevant material”, in relation to a tribunal, means all material which is evidence received by, or a document created by or for, the tribunal whatsoever (including any document which is incomplete or in draft form only);
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“tribunal” means a tribunal to which the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 is applied under section 1 of that Act.
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Availability of relevant material for inspection by public under National Archives Act 1986.
47.— (1) Any relevant material of a tribunal (other than any part of such relevant material which falls within section 46(5) or (6)) that constitutes Departmental records within the meaning of section 2(2) of the National Archives Act 1986 is, on the expiry of 30 years after the date of the dissolution of the tribunal, deemed to have been prescribed under section 8(11) of that Act as a class of records to which a certificate granted under section 8(4) of that Act may relate.
(2) As soon as is practicable after the date on which any relevant material of a tribunal is deemed to have been prescribed as described in subsection (1), an officer of a Department of State authorised for the purposes of section 8(4) of the National Archives Act 1986 shall consider whether, after having regard to any opinion and reasons referred to in section 46(4) that the chairman of the tribunal caused to accompany the material and subject to any consent required under that section 8(4), the material, or specified parts of it, should be certified under that section 8(4).
(3) Subject to subsections (1) and (2), the National Archives Act 1986 applies to any relevant material of a tribunal (other than any part of such relevant material which falls within section 46(5) or (6)) that constitutes Departmental records within the meaning of section 2(2) of that Act.
C5
Application of subs. (2) restricted (27.10.2009) by Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009 (15/2009), s. 45(6), S.I. No. 423 of 2009.
Records.
45.— ...
(6) Documents that are prepared for the purpose of performing a function under this Act shall not constitute Departmental records within the meaning of section 2(2) of the National Archives Act 1986.
...
C6
Application of subs. (2) restricted (30.06.2006) by Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006 (17/2006), s. 12(6), S.I. No. 338 of 2006.
Records.
12.— ...
(6) Documents that are prepared for the purpose of performing a function under this Act shall not constitute Departmental records within the meaning of section 2(2) of the National Archives Act 1986.
...
C7
Application of Act extended (18.07.2004) by Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 (23/2004), s. 41, commenced on enactment.
Availability of records for inspection by public under National Archives Act 1986.
41.—(1) Records of a commission that constitute Departmental records within the meaning of section 2(2) of the National Archives Act 1986 are, on the expiry of 30 years after the date of the commission's dissolution, deemed to have been prescribed under section 8(11) of that Act as a class of records to which a certificate granted under section 8(4) of that Act may relate.
(2) As soon as practicable after the date on which records of a commission are deemed to have been prescribed as described in subsection (1), an officer of a Department of State authorised for the purposes of section 8(4) of the National Archives Act 1986 shall consider whether, subject to any consent required under that section, the commission's records should be certified under that section.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) apply whether the records concerned have been—
(a) deposited with the specified Minister under section 43(2),
(b) made available to a tribunal of inquiry under section 45, or
(c) transferred to a body on the dissolution of a tribunal of inquiry to which they were made available under section 45.
(4) Subject to this section, the National Archives Act 1986 applies to records of a commission that constitute Departmental records within the meaning of section 2(2) of that Act.
C8
Application of subs. (2) restricted (10.04.2002) by Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 (13/2002), s. 28(3), commenced on enactment.
Prohibition on disclosure of information.
28.— ...
(3) Documents that are—
(a) provided to or prepared by the Board and where appropriate the Review Committee, or
(b) prepared by a person for the Board or the Review Committee in the course of the performance of the functions of such person as a member of the Board, Review Committee, a member of the staff of the Board or the Review Committee or an adviser,
shall not constitute Departmental records within the meaning of section 2(2) of the National Archives Act, 1986.
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C9
Application of subs. (2) restricted (26.04.2000) by Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000 (7/2000), s. 27(5), commenced on enactment.
Prohibition of disclosure of information provided to Confidential Committee.
27.— ...
(5) Documents provided to the Confidential Committee or prepared by it (other than a report under section 16), or prepared by a person for it in the course of the performance of his or her functions as a member of that Committee, a member of the staff of the Commission, or an adviser, shall not constitute Departmental records within the meaning of section 2(2) of the National Archives Act, 1986.
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