Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson for allowing me to attend this meeting as I am not a member of this committee. Unfortunately I did not receive the documents in advance but I have a personal interest in the subject. I thank Deputy Catherine Murphy and Senator McConghail for advising me of the agenda for today's meeting.

I wish to address a question to Ms Eibhlín Roche on the Guinness Archive. She told the committee she has given access free of charge to Ancestry.co.uk. This is excellent. What is the reason that she cannot use the Irish genealogy site sponsored by the State, is that not an option? I am trying to understand how to put material together from an Irish side. She mentioned the difference between the types of resources.

I am a big supporter of online publishing both because of the access to those in Ireland and overseas. I have been in the National Archives to seek access to a will and have been told it cannot be transferred because of the condition it is in. I am sure every time these documents are opened up, that is impacting on their condition. There is an issue also with the handling of documents and with digitisation. There are issues for those heavily vested in this areas as well as for the general public. Ms Roche mentioned how television programmes and other sources that bring people's attention to this subject. We saw the impact of the digitisation of the 1911 and 1901 census in raising interest in genealogy among many new people. I am a big supporter of digitising the 1926 census. I was very happy to hear Ms Máire Mac Conghail speak about the General Register Office of Ireland digitising its records. The fact that an Irish citizen can go to family search or Ancestry.co.uk to get a digitisation of the GRO but one cannot do it from an Irish site is wrong. We own this material and yet Ireland cannot put it online but I can access it from sources outside Ireland.

Mr. Donovan mentioned that Ireland is a European hub for genealogy. Is that in respect of our heritage or the digital hub that we proudly profiled in Ireland? I have seen that Ancestry.co.uk have brought 15 jobs to the digital hub and expect to expand to 50 jobs, mainly in the management and finance area. Could Mr. Donovan outline the basis for his assertion that we could become an European hub for genealogy?