Efforts to preserve up to 100,000 records linked to institutional abuse were repeatedly stalled after government departments became bogged down in legal and data-protection concerns.
Archivists were pulled from parts of the project and reassigned after more than 100 staff days were spent cataloguing and rehousing files held by the Department of Children.
Internal records warned that continued delays could undermine the State’s flagship research and remembrance project in the eyes of survivors and others affected by institutional abuse.
The National Archives believed the Department of Health alone could hold close to 100,000 relevant files – more than three times higher than earlier estimates.
An internal memo said work had begun on identifying records in 2023 but was soon delayed amid worries over the “legal basis” of archivists working with the files.
In 2024, the project was resumed when two archivists were allowed to continue the work after signing a data processing agreement.
However, it said progress was slow and the work involved was new to officials from the Information Management Unit of the Department of Children.
A memo said: “Initial procedures were very cumbersome and slowed overall progress.”
The work remained challenging because the material had not been boxed in any particular order, while advice from the Attorney General meant National Archives staff could work only on files more than thirty years old.
The memo added: “By September 2024, it became clear that there was continued reluctance within [the Department of Children] to transfer records despite assurances.”
At one stage, the department suggested transferring just 70 files from 670 that had been painstakingly organised by archivists.
“This would involve the removal of random files from the order in which they had been catalogued and boxed,” the document said.
“[This] would result in the undermining of all the work undertaken over the previous year, effectively requiring re-cataloguing, reordering and re-boxing of those files.”
The memo also detailed how some files were later removed from special archival boxes.
“Archival boxes supplied to the Department by the National Archives were then destroyed,” the memo said.
“This resulted in the archivists having to restart the process. Files that had previously been catalogued were found dispersed throughout bankers’ boxes.”
The National Archives then decided to halt the work while it awaited developments.
It said in the memo that archivists had been trying to help Department staff, and this was intended as “a means of support and the most efficient use of time and limited resources.”
The memo also explained that the Department of Children had twice sought the return of files from the National Archives.
It said: “These recalls have been refused as there is no legal basis for the Department of Children to recall files transferred by another Department.”
In correspondence, the Department of Children disputed suggestions it had been unwilling to cooperate, saying there were genuine legal difficulties over the transfer of records.
The department said some records contained personal information about living people and could not be certified as suitable for immediate public inspection under existing law.
Another document, among a batch of records released under FOI, describes a serious underestimate of how many files were actually held.
An initial audit had indicated around 2,500 files but further information saw that figure increase to 30,000.
However, the National Archives believed that too was a likely underestimate and that the true figure might be closer to 100,000.
Asked about the records, a spokesperson said: “The National Archives continues to work with colleagues in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and the Department of Education and Youth on the transfer of records relevant to the National Centre.
“It is anticipated that records that do not contain sensitive information will begin to transfer to the National Archives over the coming weeks under s.8.1 of the National Archives Act 1986.”
The spokesperson said proposals would then be brought forward that would align transparency and openness while protecting the privacy of survivors’ personal information.
A public consultation would follow before draft legislation was brought to Government as outstanding legal issues were still being worked through.