The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, has defended his Department's with the Laffoy Commission on child abuse.
Speaking during a debate on the commission's report in the Dáil this evening, Mr Dempsey said an impression was being created that the Department would not hand over documents.
He said: "We are talking about documents the Department might have had 50,60 or 70 years ago."
"We do not know whether the Department had them or not. They are documents that might have been lost maybe as far back as the middle of the second World War. They might have been relevant.
"I think any reasonable person trying to meet a request like that would find it very difficult."
Earlier Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte asked why Ms Justice Laffoy was not given access to documents on which the deal was based.