I welcome the Minister to the House.
Adjournment Matters. - Library Stocks.
I welcome the Minister. The series of motions put down at annual general meetings of the Library Association of Ireland over the last few years has culminated in a number of associate motions being brought together on this year's agenda. There is great concern in the public library service at the serious depletion and deterioration in the quality of the book stock. The Library Association are as aware as any other concerned group of the economic realities facing this Government in its attempt to satisfy the needs of all sections of society. Notwithstanding that awareness, as a representative of the Library Association in this House, I feel that the Government, and especially the Minister for the Environment, should be made aware of the great concern expressed by the Library Association at the continuing deterioration in the service to the public.
The public library service is an essential element in the fabric of every community in Ireland. It provides easy access to information for every man, woman and child. We are all aware of how important information is in our daily lives. We cannot function properly without correct and comprehensible information. The public library service has served this country well for over 100 years. It has provided recreational reading for our leisure time, support for our studies and facts and figures for our businesses. Its value was recognised by successive Governments who provided capital to support a building programme which facilitated the provision of new libraries in many towns and in the suburbs of our larger cities.
I acknowledge the involvement and intervention of Governments over the past six years and their acknowledgment of the contribution the public library service has made to the fabric of our society. From 1989 to 1990 the then Ministers for Education and the Environment, Deputy O'Rourke and Mr. Flynn met with numerous delegations from the Library Association who were attempting to increase funding. In an innovative and imaginative action, a sum of money was set aside from the national lottery to improve book funds throughout the country.
It is the local authorities, in the main, who fund the public library service. I wish to pay tribute to local authorities who in the most straitened economic circumstances have continued to take this responsibility seriously and who attempt to maintain the standard of the public library service. The benefits of this valuable investment have been undermined over the past 15 years by cuts in library book funds throughout the country. It is all very well to have excellent buildings and provide books in the initial phase, but it is necessary to provide back-up in succeeding years.
Despite increases in the cost of books, the aggregate book fund provision for 1992 was over £100,000 less than it was in 1986. During the mid-eighties a number of public libraries had no funding at all for book purchase. Public library users in those communities were denied access to new information in those periods. On the basis of the 1992 Estimates 14.7p per head per week was being spent on the public library service in the Republic of Ireland. In Britain, where the library service at present is described as being in "crisis", the expenditure per head was 23p per week. In 1992, we spent 94p per head of population on books for our public library service while Scotland, a country of similar size, spent £2.78 sterling per head of population — almost three times as much. This puts Irish book funds into perspective. They are insufficient to purchase important new materials and to fill the gaps resulting from underfunding throughout the previous decade.
Books are the life blood of the public library service. Good libraries are built up painstakingly by librarians who select the best books of a genre or a particular topic as these materials are published. Over time collections are developed which provide authoritative, in depth information to support our interests and concerns, information which is essential if we are to develop our local communities and this country as we would wish. The value of our local and national collection has been undermined seriously by the reduced buying power of library book funds over the past decade.
Important texts are no longer available. Special collections are incomplete and will remain so unless library book funds are properly financed on an ongoing basis and unless a special grant is made available. This grant would be made available countrywide to help librarians to restore gaps in library collections built up as a resource for us all. An important book is wonderful when it is published. Over time and in its place within a library collection it becomes an irreplacable treasure.
There will be no realistic opportunity for this Government in the short or medium term to provide the necessary finance by way of block grant to local authorities or to increase the book fund to any appreciable degree. It is in the context of today's economic realities which this Government is committed to improving that I am asking the Minister to give serious consideration to following the precedent created by his predecessors in the late 1980s, by allocating a sum of money. In this instance I am requesting that £1 million be set aside from the national lottery. It is not a lot to ask. The impact of the previous £1 million on our book funds and on the quality and quantity of books throughout the public library service was immediate and had far reaching effects. It was in a sense a fire brigade action but I believe that there would be great public support and sympathy for it.
The Library Association are requesting £6 million over three years. If they received it all at once they would not have enough staff to spend it wisely within a 12-month period. Being a politician, I am tailoring my needs in a realistic fashion. I know the Minister is someone who appreciates good books. I hope he will respond sympathetically and give some hope to the committed public servants who are librarians in our public library service.
I am glad to have this opportunity to speak on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Smith, who is unavoidably away on Government business, on the important subject of the book stock in our library service.
I would like to refer to the funding of the library service generally. Local authorities must meet the cost of operating public libraries from their own resources. The main operational costs include staff costs, payment of loan and leasing charges, maintenance and operation of buildings, purchase of equipment and normal stocking of libraries.
The Department of the Environment's main function in relation to the public library service, is the provision of capital grants for branch libraries, both new and reconstructed, mobile libraries, and the computerisation of library services. Capital grants of up to 100 per cent of approved costs are payable to finance library construction, and 50 per cent of the cost of book stock for new libraries is also payable.
Responsibility for the initiation of library projects, rests with each local authority. Proposals are considered by the Department of the Environment in consultation with An Chomhairle Leabharlanna. All State funding for the library service, comes from the national lottery. Self-evidently book stock is the most fundamental and essential element of a library service and should be so regarded by library authorities, in determining their spending priorities on the service.
A high standard of book stock is essential to get maximum value from the resources which have been, and are being, expended by both local authorities and the Exchequer on the public library service. It is not unreasonable to expect local authorities to fund the cost of providing an adequate book stock for the libraries themselves. However, we recognise that for many local authorities, the once-off expenditure involved in stocking new library buildings can create some difficulties.
For this reason the Minister for the Environment ensures that new and improved libraries benefit from the available funds for book stock, by way of the 50 per cent grant assistance, which is available for stocking new libraries in addition to 100 per cent funding for the buildings. The State has spent a considerable amount of money on these grants over the years.
Lest anybody think from Senator Mooney's contribution that local authorities, have been cutting back on book-stocking, I point out that the Public Library Estimates of Expenditure show that expenditure on book funds has risen steadily since 1988. Expenditure on book funds in 1988 was estimated at £1.99 million and is expected to rise to £3.436 million this year, which represents a 73 per cent increase over the period.
This year a total of £1.85 million is being provided by the Department of the Environment to assist the funding of the library service. This includes £1.2 million for new capital projects and books and £650,000 in respect of subsidy to local authorities on their loan and leasing charges. Unfortunately, given the difficult economic circumstances which currently prevail, it is not possible to make available the further £1 million, which is being sought by Senator Mooney as a special allocation to boost local authority book stock funds.
Curtailment of expenditure, throughout the public sector, is unavoidable. This fact is almost universally accepted. In this context the public library service is no different from any other public service. Local authorities who finance operational costs must ensure prudent management and effective use of the resources available to them from all sources. It is their function in allocating these resources to determine priorities for different services and to establish a balanced programme which has regard to the competing needs of the different services. The local authority is in the best position to make these decisions since it is fully aware of local needs, demands and priorities.
It is the policy of the Department of the Environment to pursue a well-balanced programme of library development throughout the country. Quality and cost-effectiveness are key objectives in the library programme. A rigorous standard of project appraisal and control is in place, to ensure that these aims are achieved. Despite the difficult economic circumstances which prevail, the allocation provided this year will ensure that progress will be maintained on the development of the library service including the stocking of new and refurbished libraries.
As a frequent user of the public library service I have seen immense improvements take place in recent years. I would like to pay special tribute to Senator Mooney for putting this motion before the House and for the fine representation which he gives the Library Association of Ireland, who have nominated him consistently for selection as a Member of this House. I hope the information before us puts the situation in context because scarity of resources makes it a matter for the local authorities in the first instance to ensure that the priorities they decide upon are funded.
I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive and considered reply. However, I am disappointed that he did not respond more positively to the specific elements of the motion. A point which deserves to be highlighted is that since the early 1990s as a result of changes in legislation all moneys for capital funding of libraries, for new buildings and for book stocks in new libraries has been coming exclusively from the national lottery. Public libraries receive no money from the Exchequer. The public would appreciate a small sum of money being devoted to the ongoing development of the library service, specifically in the area of funds for books.
I thank the Minister of State for his kind courteous comments to me personally. I will continue to battle hard on behalf of the Library Association of Ireland to find some light at the end of what is a very difficult economic tunnel.
I assure Senator Mooney and the House that I will bring the points made to the attention of my Government colleague, Deputy Smith.