I wish to share my time with Senator Manning.
Adjournment Matters. - Oireachtas Library Facilities.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
It is opportune to raise this matter, given the announcement this morning that there will be an Exchequer surplus. Senator Manning and I plead with the Minister of State to convey to the Minister for Finance our request that a tiny portion of that surplus be given to enhancing the Library services in this House.
A comprehensive report was produced on March 1, which was debated in this House, regarding the need to upgrade and update the facilities. The report was compiled by my colleague, Senator Manning, and adopted by the Joint Services Committee and this House as a very positive contribution in trying to put together a Library that would create an even playing pitch between the ordinary Members of both Houses and the Executive branch. It is no longer acceptable that people who are expected to comment and dissect legislation should be at such a serious disadvantage in relation to research and information.
I am aware of the goodwill of the Minister for Finance and his colleagues and I appreciate the efforts being made by the Minister of State, Deputy Dempsey. I welcome the envisaged substantial expenditure on new buildings. Everybody accepts that the provision of such buildings is long overdue. No company could survive the lack of facilities with which this House appears to have survived for so many years. It is a tribute to the patience and adaptability of the Members and staff that Governments have got away with providing so few facilities.
We promised the committee at its last meeting that we would continue to bring this matter forward. We do not do so in an antagonistic manner but the issue must be addressed. The amount of money we seek to begin the process of modernising the Library facilities in this House is relatively small and will enable the Members to involve themselves in a way that is constructive in terms of their contributions to legislation and their role as watchdogs of Governments. That has been a vital role and it is even more vital now because of the very complicated legislation being introduced by our Government and in Europe.
Will the Minister of State convey our plea to the Minister for Finance that a sum be set aside in the 1995 Estimates for the Library? The Minister of State has had a long and successful day. I congratulate him on the An Bord Bia Bill, 1994.
I thank Senator Magner for agreeing to share his time with me. Once again I pay tribute to him for the lead he has given as chairman of the Joint Services Committee. He has brought a great spirit of innovation, indeed almost a spirit of capitalist enterprise, to bear on his task and we are the beneficiaries.
The members of the joint committee were asked by the Dáil in a motion on 24 November 1993 to report to both Houses on the adequacy of the resources available for the Library and research services and to report on how these services might be improved. Our report was published and adopted by the Joint Services Committee and debated fully and well in this House although the debate in the other House was not on the same level. I am already in trouble because I said on a recent television programme that one tends to meet a better class of person in the Seanad. However, in this case there was a better debate in the Seanad on the fundamental needs of the library in a modern parliament. The Dáil also approved the report.
Senator Magner and I are determined to press ahead with this matter because we want serious consideration to be given to the 12 specific proposals in the report. The report is an attempt to provide for a thoroughly comprehensive and professional research and information service for Members of the Oireachtas which will serve them well into the next century. In our research we found huge inadequacies in the present service which has been starved of funds and professional expertise over a long period of time. Everything we said in the report had the full endorsement of the Library staff so our findings were not in any sense a criticism of the staff.
There were two aspects to the report. The long term aspects require planning to put changes into effect. That planning must be started immediately and the necessary funds provided. There was also a number of urgent short term recommendations. One referred to the condition of the material stored in the basement and during the debate Senator Magner displayed some of the valuable artefacts which are almost dumped — or stored — in the basement area. We made specific proposals to deal with that matter.
I do not wish to repeat what was said during the debate. Our work was undertaken on the instruction of the Dáil. We made specific proposals which are in the best interests of all Members — not just current Members but those who will be Members in the future. We wish to ensure that our report will be taken seriously and will not be subsumed into the longer term overall plans — which we welcome — for the Oireachtas announced by the Minister of State, Deputy Dempsey. This report should be treated as an entity. It should not have to wait for the more dramatic developments envisaged for the Oireachtas to be implemented and its urgent proposals should not be neglected.
I urge the Minister to convey our views to the Minister for Finance and to report back to this House with proposals for action.
I thank Senator Magner and Senator Manning for their contributions and for giving me the opportunity to address this important issue. I appreciate their points not only as a Member of the other House and a former Member of this House — I will not comment on the calibre of the personnel in either — but also as a former teacher.
The Oireachtas Joint Services Committee was charged, on 1 April 1993, with the task of reporting to both Houses of the Oireachtas on the adequacy of the resources available for Library and research services for Members and how they might be improved. The committee laid its report before both Houses in February 1994 and it was the subject of a debate in this House on 30 March last.
The Joint Services Committee's report on the Oireachtas Library facilities was compiled in consultation with the Oireachtas librarian and the head of the information technology section in Leinster House. In its deliberations, the committee examined in detail the Library facilities and resources available in Westminster and other parliamentary libraries. I thank the Members of the committee who gave their time to help to produce this important report and who visited the House of Commons Library in the course of their work to see the facilities available to members of Parliament there.
The report of the Joint Services Committee highlights the importance of an efficient, comprehensive and up-to-date Library as an essential support service for the modern Parliament. Its main recommendations concern staffing and financial resources for the library and improvements in the quality of the accommodation provided. The committee and other Members of this House have been loud in their praise of the Oireachtas Library staff, whose services have always been of the highest quality. However, because of financial constraints, standards of accommodation and availability of resources for the library have not been quite as satisfactory in recent years. I hope that the report of the JSC could be a first step on the road to providing a more satisfactory Library and information service to all Members and staff of the Oireachtas.
With regard to the issue of accommodation, the development plan for the Leinster House precinct approved by the Government earlier this year includes a proposal to relocate the Oireachtas Library in the existing College of Art premises. This would result in a considerable improvement in the standard and quality of accommodation for Members and staff and facilitate the important links which are to be established between the National Library and the Oireachtas Library.
One of the principal issues highlighted in the JSC's report was the slow pace of computerisation in the library and the lack of a computerised cataloguing and indexation system. I am happy to report that considerable progress has been made in this area since. After extensive evaluation of library software, a system called Unicorn was selected as the most appropriate to meet the requirements of the Houses and in February 1994 sanction was received for its purchase and installation. The hardware was installed in April and the software installed in May. The system provides facilities to catalogue and search all material held in the Library on subject matter, author, etc., and shows the availability and location of material.
There are modules to control circulation, acquisitions and serials. There is an easy to use search system which will enable members to complete searches for information, print reports and reserve or order material. Total expenditure on computerisation to date has been £60,000.
The next task to be undertaken will be the data capture of the existing Library material. As was mentioned in the Joint Services Committee report, one of the main problems is that much of the existing material has not been catalogued. Samples of the existing material has been sent to some data capture companies who specialise in cataloguing library material. It is hoped to have quotes from them shortly.
If costs permit it is intended that existing material will be catalogued externally and loaded into the system. It is envisaged that the main book catalogues, containing about 10,000 entries, will be entered before the end of the year. In addition, parliamentary debates are currently being entered onto databases and the Library will shortly have search access to this material.
As Members are aware, only Library staff have access to the computerised Library facilities. However, it is intended over the next six months to connect Members' PCs into the computer network to give them access to the Library databases.
With regard to staffing, discussions are taking place with another Government Department with a view to acquiring a professional librarian with expertise in library information systems to advise on and assist with implementation and future development of the Library's automated information system. Library staff have just completed a training course in the new system and a further course is scheduled for October.
Measures are also being taken to preserve the valuable historical collections housed in Leinster House. A 17-volume set of the 18th century Parliamentary Register of Ireland has been sent to a quality book binding firm for restoration and binding, at a cost of approximately £850. Conservation measures such as this will continue to be taken as resources permit.
The Seanad adjourned at 7.55 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 6 July 1994.