It is a matter of the utmost seriousness that the identities of 250 survivors of historical institutional abuse were revealed through an email error from within the office of Northern Ireland’s interim victims advocate, Brendan McAllister.
A newsletter, sent out on Friday by a member of staff, did not anonymise the names of recipients who were completely entitled to have all their personal details withheld.
The official was acting on behalf of Mr McAllister, who has taken full responsibility for the mistake and has referred the matter to the information commissioner for investigation.
He has said he does not intend to resign, although he has offered an unreserved apology, but the survivors have spoken of their feelings of `betrayal and anger’ and legal action appears inevitable.
While some of those involved have made clear that they are not seeking the departure of Mr McAllister, others say that have lost their trust in him.
The verdict of the information commissioner will be of considerable significance and can hopefully be provided as quickly as possible.
Among those identified to recipients of the email were victims whose own families did not know they had been abused in institutions, so the data breach plainly has far reaching consequences.
The Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry, which sat from 2014 to 2016, exposed appalling sexual, physical and emotional abuse over many decades at children’s homes run by religious orders, charities and the state.
It then took a further three years for legislation setting up a redress board for the victims to be passed at Westminster in November, and the appointment of Mr McAllister as their interim advocate had been due to be another important step forward.
Survivors have been waiting so long for their compensation, scheduled to be tax free sums ranging from £7,500 to £100,000 under the government-funded scheme, that many have subsequently died.
Any further delays would be entirely unacceptable, so, whether Mr McAllister stays or goes, the priority must be ensuring that the financial package promised to the victims is fully delivered at last.
After all the shocking ordeals they have endured, from their childhood to the present day, such an outcome is the least they deserve.
