Galway Bay fm newsroom - The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes has retrieved the backup tapes containing the audio recordings from the Confidential Committee from their off-site storage.
An IT expert has checked whether the audio recordings are retrievable by testing a random sample and verified that they are accessible and audible.
The Commission has agreed to deposit the audio recordings with the Department - It states this is in keeping with other actions it is taking to transfer the rest of the archive to the Minister who will become data controller next week.
The Commission has stated that approximately 80 people have sought for their interview with the Confidential Committee to be redacted.
The Commission is now considering how this will be done and has reiterated its commitment to maintain the anonymity of these people.
In the interim, the Department says it continues its preparations to become data controller of the Mother and Baby Homes archive from February 28 and is liaising with the Data Protection Commission.
It comes ahead of a Dáil debate today on extending the commission by a year.
