Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 October 2013
79. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht with regard to cultural and genealogical tourism under his remit, his views on potential changes to legislation governing access to cultural and genealogical records and artefacts; his further views on the need to develop and foster a multi-departmental approach to enhance the genealogical tourism potential here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44253/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt this point, I am not aware of any change to legislation which would adversely affect access to cultural and genealogical records and artefacts. However, I understand that provision has been made in the recent Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 to allow my Department to act as agents for the Registrar General to provide access to the indexes of births, deaths and marriages online. I further understand that the Department of Social Protection has been considering the issue of making certain historic civil registration records available to the public through an on-line search facility in conjunction with my Department, and has met with a number of stakeholders with a view to introducing measures to allow this. It is hoped that these measures will be contained in the forthcoming Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill.
As Minister, I have concentrated on improving access to genealogical records with a view to developing further the already important genealogical tourism product and attracting more visitors to Ireland. Indeed, for example, the National Archives, an agency under my auspices, has placed a large volume of records online, including the 1901 and 1911 census records which have attracted huge interest. Similarly as part of its contribution to The Gathering, my Department has developed a website - www.Irish Genealogy.ie - as a virtual entry point and a portal for those wishing to search for genealogical records across a number of different websites. These measures have made a considerable contribution to the enhancement of our genealogical tourism potential.
