Vol. 512 No. 3
241 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason for the delay in the completion of the transfer of the General Registry Office to Roscommon town; when this transfer will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26222/99]
The General Register Office archive conversion project, which is currently under way in Roscommon, involves the capture of the records of more than 150 years of births, deaths and marriages and associated indexes. The project, was initially established with 40 FÁS trainees and 16 civil servants. As the Deputy will be aware, the com munity employment scheme was intended to meet a particular need on a temporary basis. This scheme ended during the summer and the Department of Health and Children is examining how best to proceed with the archive conversion project and is having discussions with the Department of Finance and other relevant bodies. The conversion of the archive involves the scanning of the historical records of the office from 1845 to date and the conversion of the associated indexes to an electronic format. The Deputy will appreciate that this is a major and complex undertaking. It is now projected that this phase may be finalised by the end of 2001. The second phase of the project, which will take place on completion of the computerisation of the archive, will involve the transfer of the administrative sections of the General Register Office to Roscommon.
