National Archives

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 November 2015

Tuesday, 10 November 2015

Questions (614)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

614. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in regard to the operation of the National Archives Act 1986, her views on figures obtained through a Parliamentary Question from all Departments of State (details supplied) outlining the estimated annual spend on storage of records which cannot be accommodated at the National Archives due to an inability to properly process the records in a timely manner; if she is aware that this is directly due to under-provision of funding for the archives; her views on whether it represents value for money for the taxpayer that the Exchequer continues to pay storage, security and retrieval costs for records yet does not invest in the necessary facilities and staff at the archives to more properly manage these records; her further views on whether there is a widespread failure to adhere to the spirit of the 1986 Act; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39588/15]

Written answers

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

The National Archives is one of our foremost National Cultural Institutions, with a statutory remit to collect, manage, and preserve the public record of Ireland and ensure its availability both as a resource and to safeguard citizens' rights. I am acutely aware of the challenges facing the National Archives, and indeed other cultural institutions, following the significant reduction of resources available to the Exchequer as a result of the economic crisis. These are significant challenges which will not be fixed overnight, and will most likely take a number of years to address. In addition Government Departments and other Agencies have also faced significant reductions in resources and this has had a negative impact on their ability to process and prepare records for transfer to the National Archives.

The Government recently agreed to reduce the time period for the transfer of records from 30 years to 20 and, in line with that, it was also agreed that the National Archives would undertake a pilot study, with the Department of Education and Skills, to ascertain the cost to Departments of storing records which should have been transferred to the National Archives.

It is widely acknowledged that the Archives headquarters in Bishop Street are at capacity in terms of the amount of storage available, and the building is also limited by a lack of exhibition space for the important historic documents which the National Archives holds in its collection.

In response to these issues, and as part of the Commemorations programme, the Government agreed to provide funding for the first phase in a capital development plan at the National Archives. I was delighted to be in a position to make €8 m available for the purposes of this capital development, which will shortly go to tender, and construction is expected to start in 2016. This development will address many of the longstanding issues with the National Archives headquarters.