Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2016
623. Deputy Kate O'Connell asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if there are plans to increase resources and support for the National Library of Ireland and the National Archives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9914/16]
View answerDespite significant challenges in recent years, our national cultural institutions have worked hard to maintain their services to the public, and to protect and make our national collections accessible to the greatest extent possible. I am acutely aware of the challenges facing the National Library, and indeed other national 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. Thanks to improvements in the economy, I was in a position to secure an additional €2 million in current funding for our national cultural institutions as part of the 2015 Revised Estimates. This was after six years of continuous cutbacks and included an increased allocation of €600,000 for the National Library and €100,000 for the National Archives. I was pleased to have been in a position to maintain those increased budgets in 2016.
In addition, I provided the National Archives with a special allocation of €150,000 for 2016 to assist in work currently being undertaken by it, in association with the Office of Government Chief Information Officer, in regard to digital records and public sector records management policy.
I will continue to support the National Library and National Archives to the greatest extent possible and hope to be in a position to provide additional funding as the Exchequer position improves.
In relation to capital funding, I was delighted in late 2015 to announce a major new capital investment plan for the National Library's historic Kildare Street premises, as part of the Government's Public Capital Programme Building on Recovery 2016-2021. I have earmarked an allocation of €10 million in funding for the first phase of the works.
In addition, as part of the Decade of Commemorations programme, €8 million in funding has been earmarked for the first phase in a capital development plan at the National Archives. The OPW has recently appointed a design team to the project and I expect it to go to tender shortly.
These two significant capital investments will address many of the long-standing to infrastructural issues that face both the National Library and the National Archives in terms of their building and storage requirements.
