This matter relates to a long standing difficulty which has not reached a successful termination in terms of the provision of a library in the Cabra area. It is similar to the draining of the Shannon; people have discussed it for years but there appears to be no likelihood of it ever taking place.
A huge area between Blanchardstown, the Navan Road, Cabra, Oxmantown and Phibsboro has no library service. It is a major vacuum and in terms of the distribution of branch libraries throughout the city, this is the largest area without a local authority library. Many years ago the local authority purchased a site at the junction of the Ratoath Road, Navan Road and Old Cabra Road and prepared proposals were agreed, processed and presented to the Department of the Environment. However, nothing happened.
Dublin Corporation drew up a programme of development from 1996 to 2001 as requested by the Department of the Environment. This programme, which was approved on the first Monday in December 1996 by Dublin City Council, contained specific proposals with regard to Cabra. It stated that it would be developed as a branch library, which was the initial proposal when the site was purchased, it would be a book storage facility for the city of Dublin for book deposits and it would be a bibliographical and technical processing section for information. It would serve as a base for the mobile library of the city and provide administrative services for the city library. The proposed library for Cabra would, therefore, be a joint, major central library for Dublin in conjunction with the proposed Pearse Street development. The existing library in Pearse Street is due for substantial development at a cost of £2.3 million. This is not an inordinate sum for the provision of a branch library which would also have major central library facilities.
A report in the Irish Independent in December 1997 stated that the Government had sanctioned £2 million for a new library in Blanchardstown, which already has an old library. At the same time, the development of a library for the first time which would serve as a branch library, an administrative base, a repository and a facilitator of the mobile units has not been approved. Dublin Corporation had prepared the necessary plans and the project was ready for tendering when, on 5 January 1998, it received a letter from the Department of the Environment and Local Government indicating that the proposal for the new library facility was being considered but that, having regard to the high level of demand for funding for library proposals in general, it was not possible to indicate when the Cabra proposals would be approved. The proposals for Cabra are central to Dublin Corporation's Public Libraries, Information Service and City Archives: Programme for Development, 1996-2001. Cabra is the central structural base of that plan and yet the Department is thinking of spending £2 million on a new facility in one area — we do not grudge them this — but will not spend £2.3 million on the central tenet of the plan. This is very unsatisfactory.
It is also unsatisfactory that Cumberland House is leased by the Department of the Environment and Local Government for library services at a cost of £168,000, £84,000 of which is paid annually by the Department. This would no longer be necessary if the new library, the site for which will not cost a penny and has already been acquired, was built with capital assistance from Dublin Corporation. The amount granted by the Department would be considerably less than £2.3 million.
This issue concerns a service which is required by the community and without which people must travel from the Navan Road through Phibsborough and Oxmantown to the Ilac Centre for library services. This is not acceptable, particularly for the primary and secondary schools for which services are provided by the library in the context of projects, essays and work experience. The issue is also relevant to life long learning.
The Department has shown no positive response to the development proposals of the local authority which were requested by it and presented almost two years ago. Almost half the five year period covered by the report is over. Cabra should be the hub of the development according to that report. It is time we knew the intentions of the Department in the context of the library service. There should be a phased provision of library services in response to the report and a plan showing how it will be implemented by 2001. We should start now when finances are relatively, if not considerably, flush. Money is being found at the drop of a hat for other purposes.
Earlier we spoke about providing housing for people. We must also provide learning facilities for them. Libraries are a very valuable asset in this context.
