Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I take a great interest in this. I have been a member of the Irish Genealogical Society although I am not as active as I would like to be. One thing that is important is the provision of as much free information for people as possible because it is a deterrent if people realise that they must give Visa card details to access information online. From the perspective of schools and education, it is much better that there are much free sources as ever.

I am a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection and one of the issues we are looking at is the youth guarantee, which is to be implemented in the new year. The idea is that money will be put into training and work experience opportunities for young people under the age of 26. One area where there could be many opportunities for young people would be research under the heading of genealogical information. Perhaps some of that is already going on. If so, could any of the witnesses who are aware of it elaborate on it? Does anyone on the panel see opportunities there? If some of the funding from the youth guarantee could be directed towards organisations in which they are involved or at local authority level, it would be a great opportunity for young people because it involves research, administration and finding out about our history and heritage. It would be a great experience for a young person to have on their CV and would also be a great learning experience.