Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 June 2021
215. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide for the records of the Land Commission now held by his Department to be digitised prior to any further degradation given the condition of many of the records; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30075/21]
View answerThe Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine currently has no immediate plans to digitise all of the eight million plus Land Commission records held by the Department. Digitisation of records on such a vast scale is not considered feasible at this stage having regard to both the form and condition of many of the records held and given the sheer scale of such an operation.
However, the Department is examining the possibility of digitising certain key search aids which will enable electronic searches to be carried out by members of the public in order to ascertain if specific records exist. This work is at an early stage and a process of internal consultation between the relevant divisions is taking place. Officials have also been in contact with external bodies undertaking similar projects to learn from their experience.
The Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Trinity College Dublin in relation to the Beyond 2022 Project which has undertaken an initial scoping of the pre-1922 Irish Land Commission records. That project is working to recreate the records lost in the destruction of the Public Records Office of Ireland at the Four Courts in 1922.
