Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 276: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the remit of An Comhairle Leabharlanna; the expenditure of the agency in 2008, 2009 and 2010; the staffing level of the organisation in each such year; the members of the board of that body in each such year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45998/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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An Chomhairle Leabharlanna (ACL) was established by the Public Libraries Act, 1947. The main functions of the Council, as set out, in the Local Government Act 2001 are: · the provision of advice, assistance and services to library authorities in relation to the public library service, · the making of such recommendations to, and the provision of such services for, the Minister in relation to the public library service, as the Minister may request or as the Council sees fit, · the promotion and facilitation of inter library co-operation. Other than these core functions, ACL is also involved in a wide range of other activities and initiatives that support and/or promote the development of the public library service. These include · managing a training and development programme for public library staff · operating the Public Library Research Programme (PLRP) · developing online resources for Public Libraries, such as the AskaboutIreland website, including the ENFO Environmental Information Service and the Change.ie website · collaboration with FAS eCollege in 100 Libraries serving 4,000 users · Working Group on Library Services for Young People · Involvement in EU Initiatives including EU Direct Information centres · providing research resources, facilities and expertise to assist the staff and users from the public library and other library sectors.

ACL was also recently given a new statutory responsibility in relation to Public Lending Remuneration (PLR), the mechanism by which authors can receive payment for the loans of their books by public libraries. The annual expenditure of An Chomharle for 2008 was €4,383,140 while for 2009 it was €3,453,022.91. Expenditure for 2010 is not yet available. The operational costs of ACL are almost completely funded by way of statutory levy on local authorities. The ACL currently has 17 staff; it had 17 staff at end 2009 and 18 staff at end 2008.

The ACL Board is appointed in accordance with the Local Government Regulations, 1997. The current Board was appointed on 14 April, 2008. The Chairperson is Councillor Mark Dearey and the other two Ministerial nominees are Councillor Pat McMahon, and Councillor Cora Long. The remaining ten members are nominated by various bodies. The following table shows the composition of the current board (including replacements as appropriate) together with the nominating body: