Vol. 385 No. 7
asked the Taoiseach if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a trustee (details supplied) of the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin 4 has resigned from that position; if, in view of the fact that 80 per cent of the library's budget is provided by his Department, he will request the trustee appointed by him to seek a special meeting of the Board of Trustees to consider the running of the library and its current problems; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
4.
asked the Taoiseach the proportion of his Department's annual grant of £200,000 to the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin 4, which is spent on salaries and the amount which was spent on promotion of the State's treasures held at the library.
5.
asked the Taoiseach if the Board of Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin 4 are required to publish annual reports and accounts to detail the way in which funds provided by the State have been spent and to facilitate public monitoring of the way in which State treasures at the library have been administered and promoted; the number of times the Board of Trustees have met in the past two years; if he will outline the policy proposals his nominees have brought before the board; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3, 4 and 5 together.
The projected current expenditure by the Chester Beatty Library for 1988 is in the region of £250,000, of which £200,000 is funded by way of a grant-in-aid from my Department. The pay element of the library's total expenditure is about £200,000 or 80 per cent of that expenditure. The grant-in-aid — which is funded in 1988 from national lottery proceeds — is not broken down into pay and non-pay elements.
The library does not have a specific promotion budget. The trustees are very concerned to promote public awareness and appreciation of the library's magnificent treasures and I have arranged for this issue to be examined by my Department in consultation with the trustees who, it will be appreciated, are an independent entity established under the terms of Sir Chester Beatty's will. The interdepartmental committee on tourism are also considering proposals made in that context.
The Board of Trustees are not required to publish annual reports and accounts. However, under the Department of Finance guidelines in relation to the issue of grants-in-aid, the annual accounts are presented to my Department. The books and accounts of the library and, indeed, all grantees in receipt of public funding, are made available — if required — for examination by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
I understand that the trustees have met on 24 occasions in the past two years. The board's policy proposals and discussions are confidential, as are those of similar bodies. I am quite confident that the board meets frequently enough to discuss pertinent issues. This month's meeting is to be held later this week and I am not aware of any compelling reason to call for a special meeting as suggested by the Deputy.
Has the Taoiseach sought any inquiry into the recent departure of one of the members of the Board of Trustees and a suggestion contained in reports that a number of other board members, including his own nominee, are also considering departing?
No. This is a very special type of organisation and it could probably be described as a rarefied institution. It is not the sort of body in which I take a day-to-day supervisory interest.
I appreciate that it is an institution that certainly could be described as rarefied, but would the Taoiseach not agree in view of the significance of the works held in the library and, more particularly, in view of the moneys expended by his Department on an annual basis, accounting for upwards of 80 per cent of the overall budget, it is time that the rarefied atmosphere was invaded by his Department who have a responsibility in this area so as to bring more order into the library and to make it more accessible to members of the public who in effect are the owners of the library?
I am not so sure that I can be of any particular assistance. The trustees are appointed in accordance with the terms of the will; three are appointed by the Government and they appoint the others. To that extent it has a special type of independence. The Government provide some moneys for maintenance and repairs. I think the Deputy would agree with me that it is better that there should be the least possible Government interference in the running of an institution of this kind. I have no information on file at my disposal which would indicate that there is any need for a special investigation by me or any of my officers at this stage, but in deference to the Deputy's queries I will discuss the matter again with my officials to see if anything needs to be done.
Can I take it from what the Taoiseach has said that the Taoiseach's nominee to the board has not been in communication with him or his Department recently concerning whatever matters brought about the resignation of the other member of the board?
I call Deputy Pat McCartan for a final supplementary.
I welcome the Taoiseach's remarks to the extent that he is prepared to look again at the affair because there is concern among those of us who have been watching and observing the events as they unfold. I want to illustrate this by one example.
The Deputy knowns that he ought to proceed by way of question.
Is the Taoiseach aware that the major exhibition prepared by one of the directors which was presented at the Royal Hospital in Kilmaiham, and which is currently on display there, does not — even though it deals with Islamic calligraphy — carry one item from the vast collection——
I have given the Deputy some latitude but he is clearly making a statement.
I am asking the Taoiseach if he is aware of that fact. Would he agree with me that that is another illustration that something is fundamentally wrong at the library and that in view of the extent of our involvement on a day-to-day basis in the funding of the library it is incumbent upon his Department to take a more active interest in the library?
The Deputy made that point earlier.
I know my distinguished predecessor on the opposite benches would fully agree with me that if in this sort of situation the Taoiseach of the day intervenes in some of these institutions he is often the subject of very severe criticism and that if he does not intervene sometimes he is equally criticised. Unless it is something of a particularly important public nature I think it is much better to leave these institutions to run themselves, particularly when the terms under which they are to be operated were so carefully delineated by the original donor.
The situation there is crying out for intervention.
I am aware that the position of Taoiseach is in many respects invidious.
