National Archives Act , 1986

1. Interpretation.

1.—(1) In this Act—

“archives” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2;

“the Council” means the National Archives Advisory Council established under section 20;

“Departmental records” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2;

“the Director” has the meaning assigned to it by section 5;

“functions” includes powers and duties, and the reference to the performance of functions includes, as respects powers and duties, a reference to the exercise of powers and the carrying out of duties;

“local authority” means any body which is—

(a) the council of a county,

(b) the corporation of a county borough,

(c) the corporation of a borough other than a county borough,

(d) the council of an urban district,

(e) the commissioners of a town, or

(f) a joint board or committee established by or under a statute to execute functions belonging to two or more of the bodies referred to in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e);

F1["Minister" means the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht;]

“the National Archives” means the body established by section 3;

“public service organisation” means a local authority, a health board or a body established by or under statute and financed wholly or partly by grants or loans made by a member of the Government or by the issue of shares taken up by a member of the Government.

F1["relevant records" has the meaning assigned to it bysection 2A(inserted bysection 3of the National Archives (Amendment) Act 2018).]

(2) (a) In this subsection “a scheduled body” means a body, institution, office, commission or committee referred to in the Schedule to this Act.

(b) In this Act (other than in paragraph (c)), references to a Department of State include, where appropriate, references to a court and also include references to a scheduled body, and the definition of “Departmental records” in section 2(2) shall be construed accordingly.

(c) In this Act, except in subsection (1) and section 2, any reference to a member of the Government shall be construed, as appropriate,—

(i) in relation to the Office of the Secretary to the President, the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General or the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, as a reference to the President, the Attorney General, the Comptroller and Auditor General or the Director of Public Prosecutions,

(ii) in relation to a court, as a reference to the Minister for Justice, and

(iii) in relation to a Department of State or a scheduled body (other than an office specified in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph), as a reference to the member of the Government having responsibility for that Department or scheduled body.

(d) The Taoiseach, after consultation with the Director and the Council, may by order amend the Schedule to this Act.

(e) Where an order under this subsection is proposed to be made, a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving the draft has been passed by each such House.

(3) A reference in this Act to an officer of a Department of State authorised for the purpose of a particular section or for a particular purpose shall be construed as a reference to an officer of that Department belonging to such class, grade or rank as is specified in regulations made by the Taoiseach.

(4) In this Act a reference to a section is to a section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(5) In this Act a reference to a subsection or paragraph is to the subsection or paragraph is to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

2. 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.

2A. F2[Relevant records

2A.—(1) Subject tosubsection (2), for the purposes of this Act, relevant records are Departmental records which are—

(a) more than 30 years old, or

(b) less than 30 years old but more than 20 years old and in relation to which an order has been made undersection 8(1A)(inserted bysection 4(b) of the National Archives (Amendment) Act 2018).

(2) Where the Minister makes an order undersection 8(1B)(inserted bysection 4(c) of the National Archives (Amendment) Act 2018), relevant records are all Departmental records which are more than 20 years old.]

3. Establishment of National Archives.

3.—From the commencement of this section the functions of the Public Record Office of Ireland (including the functions assigned to the Deputy Keeper of the Records by the Public Records (Ireland) Act, 1867) and of the office known as the State Paper Office shall be performed by the Director of a body to be known as the National Archives, which shall stand established from such commencement and is referred to in this Act by that title.

4. Functions of Director of National Archives.

4.—(1) In addition to those referred to in section 3, the functions of the Director shall include—

(a) the control and management of the National Archives,

(b) the preservation, restoration, arrangement and description of archives in the custody of the National Archives,

(c) the examination and acquisition of Departmental records in accordance with this Act,

(d) the inspection and examination of arrangements for the preservation of Departmental records and, with the consent or at the request of the appropriate member of the Government, the examination of Departmental records,

(e) the giving of advice to a member of the Government and to any public service organisation on the management, preservation and reproduction of records under their control,

(f) the acquisition by purchase, donation, bequest or loan of any record or document, or of a copy of a record or document, appropriate for preservation by the National Archives and the observance of such conditions (if any) relating to such purchase, donation, bequest or loan as may be accepted by the Director,

F3[(fa) the performance of functions assigned to the Director under Part 3 of the Maternity Protection, Employment Equality and Preservation of Certain Records Act 2024,]

(g) the preparation and making available of guides, lists, indexes and other finding aids to archives in the custody of the National Archives,

(h) the lending of archives by the Director, with the consent of the Council, to archival or educational institutions, libraries, museums, galleries, and other appropriate institutions and societies, whether in the State or elsewhere,

(i) the making and provision of copies and extracts from archives in the custody of the National Archives,

(j) the making available for public inspection in accordance with this Act of archives in the custody of the National Archives,

(k) the publication of archives, finding aids and other material relating to archives in the custody of the National Archives,

(l) the provision of such educational services as the Taoiseach may from time to time approve,

(m) such functions in relation to management of records as may from time to time be approved by the Taoiseach.

(2) The Taoiseach may from time to time assign to the Director such other functions as are analogous to or consistent with the functions specified in subsection (1) and any additional functions conferred under subsection (3).

(3) (a) The Government may by order confer additional functions on the Director, and may by order amend or revoke an order under this subsection.

(b) Every order made under this subsection shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next subsequent 21 days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(4) In the event of the office of Director being vacant or of the incapacity or absence of the Director, the Taoiseach may authorise an officer of the National Archives to perform any or all of the functions conferred on the Director under this Act.

5. Director of National Archives.

5.—(1) The Taoiseach shall from time to time appoint a person to be the Director of the National Archives, and such person is in this Act referred to as “the Director”.

(2) The Director shall carry out the functions assigned to him under this Act and such other or additional functions in relation to the National Archives as may from time to time be assigned to him by virtue of section 4(2) or 4(3).

(3) The Director shall hold office on such terms (including remuneration) as the Taoiseach shall, with the concurrence of the Minister for the Public Service, from time to time determine.

6. Staff of National Archives.

6.—(1) The Taoiseach may appoint such and, with the concurrence from time to time of the Minister for the Public Service, so many persons to be the officers (in addition to the Director) and servants of the National Archives as the Taoiseach thinks proper.

(2) An officer or servant of the National Archives appointed under this section shall hold his office or employment on such terms and conditions (including remuneration) as the Taoiseach, with the concurrence of the Minister for the Public Service, may from time to time determine.

(3) The F5[Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004], the Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1956 and 1958, and the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1963, and any Act for the time being in force and replacing or amending any of those Acts shall apply to the Director and to officers and servants of the National Archives appointed under this section.

7. Retention and disposal of Departmental records.

7.—(1) Subject to the provisions of sections 19(3) and 19(4), Departmental records shall, unless they are transferred to the National Archives in accordance with section 8 or are disposed of under subsection (5), be retained and preserved in the Department of State in which they were made or are held, and shall not in any case be disposed of except in accordance with subsection (5); provided that, where more than one copy of such a record exists, the retention and preservation of the original or, if the original is no longer available, of an accurate and complete copy thereof shall suffice.

(2) The Director or another officer of the National Archives designated by the Director for the purposes of this section (in this section referred to as “the designated officer”) may make an authorisation under this section.

(3) An authorisation under this section—

(a) shall authorise the disposal of the Departmental records to which it relates,

(b) may specify conditions relating to such disposal, and

(c) shall have effect in accordance with its terms and any conditions so specified.

(4) An authorisation under this section shall not be made until the following conditions are complied with:

(a) an officer of a Department of State authorised for the purpose of this section has certified that particular Departmental records made, received or held by that Department and specified in the certificate, or a particular class or classes of such records so specified, are not required in connection with the administration of that Department and has requested the Director or the designated officer in writing for such an authorisation;

(b) the Director or the designated officer is satisfied that the records or classes of records specified in the certificate under paragraph (a) do not warrant preservation by the National Archives;

(c) the Chief Justice, in the case of records of the Supreme Court, or the President of the High Court, in the case of records of the High Court, has consented to the making of the authorisation.

(5) Departmental records, the disposal of which is authorised by an authorisation under this section, shall be disposed of by being destroyed in a manner which ensures that their confidentiality is not affected and that their contents are not ascertainable.

(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an authorisation under this section may relate to Departmental records (or to a class or classes of such records) not in existence at the time of the authorisation.

(7) The Director or the designated officer may inspect and examine any Departmental records the disposal of which under authorisation under this section is under consideration.

8. Transfer of Departmental records more than 30 years old.

8.—(1) F6[Relevant records] in relation to which a certificate granted under this section is not in force shall, subject to section 7, be transferred by the Department of State in which they were made (or, if they are held in another such Department, by that other Department) to the National Archives, where they shall be made available for inspection by the public.

F7[(1A) (a) The Minister, on being satisfied as to the matters referred to inparagraph (b), may—

(i) following consultation by him or her with the Director, and

(ii) with the consent of—

(I) the Taoiseach,

(II) the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and

(III) other than where the records concerned are those of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the relevant member of the Government,

make an order requiring the transfer, in accordance with this Act, to the National Archives of a class or classes of Departmental records which are less than 30 years old but more than 20 years old.

(b) The Minister may make an order under this subsection where he or she is satisfied that—

(i) (I) the records concerned are of significant historical or public interest such as to warrant their transfer to the National Archives, or

(II) the transfer of the records concerned to the National Archives will facilitate the balanced and fair reporting of matters of common interest to the State and other jurisdictions,

and

(ii) the arrangements for such transfer are adequate.

(c) Every order under this subsection shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House sits after the order has been laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(d)In paragraph (a),“relevant member of the Government”means, in relation to a class or classes of Departmental records specified in an order to be made under that paragraph—

(i) the member of the Government who has responsibility for the Department of State where the class or classes of Departmental records concerned were made, or

(ii) where the Departmental records of the class or classes specified in the order to be made are held in another such Department, the member of the Government who has responsibility for that other Department.]

F7[(1B) (a) The Minister may—

(i) following consultation by him or her with the Director, and

(ii) with the consent of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform,

by order appoint a day as the day with effect from which all Departmental records which are more than 20 years old are to be transferred to the National Archives in accordance with this Act.

(b) The Minister may make an order under this subsection where he or she is satisfied that the arrangements for the transfer of all Departmental records which are more than 20 years old to the National Archives are adequate.

(c) An order under this subsection shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House sits after the order has been laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.]

F7[(1C) Nothing insubsection (1)shall require a Department of State to transfer relevant records to the National Archives where those records have previously been transferred to the National Archives in accordance with this Act.]