Ms Fiona Ross:

The National Library of Ireland is the largest publicly-accessible research library in Ireland and is recognised as a leading centre for Irish studies. Although it is not a specialist genealogical library, it is a major resource for Irish family history researchers. The National Library of Ireland's mission is to collect, preserve, promote and make accessible the documentary and intellectual record of the life of Ireland and to contribute to the provision of access to the larger universe of recorded knowledge. The library's extensive collections include printed manuscript and visual material - much of which is unique - from the archives of landed estates to the papers of major Irish writers, Gaelic manuscripts, collections relating to Irish national history and politics, books printed in Ireland and books of Irish interest published abroad, Irish newspapers, periodicals and official publications, photographs, prints, drawings and ephemera.

In order to fulfil our statutory remit, we must also develop significant capacity for the ingest and preservation of what is referred to as born digital material, while continuing to develop our printed and manuscript collections and to manage our legacy collections. We have begun to collect born digital material on a very small scale through the archiving of some websites and blogs.

The library has provided a national genealogy advisory service for more than 20 years and has facilitated researchers at every level of research and assisted hundreds of thousands of researchers in making those all important links to past generations and to places where their ancestors lived. For example, we welcomed over 7,000 visitors in the month of July 2013. Most recently the library has hosted a lecture series on topics of interest to family history researchers.

The Office of the Chief Herald has been part of the library since 1943 and is the heraldic authority for Ireland. The office grants, confirms and records coats of arms to Irish citizens and persons of Irish descent around the world. Its archives include heraldic manuscripts from the sixteenth century to the present day, documenting Cromwellian settlers in Ireland, as well as the Wild Geese emigrés from Ireland, collections of wills and pedigree abstracts and other significant record types.

All aspects of the library's collection management activity and service delivery have been affected by significant reductions in staffing and budget in recent years. Our current staff component is 85 full-time equivalents and our employment control framework number is 75 staff. Equivalent national libraries such as the National Library of Scotland and the National Library of Wales have 324 staff and 300 staff, respectively. The library has a significant storage requirement with currently less than 1% of the national collections preserved to international standards. As a result, the remaining 99% are at risk through outdated and inadequate storage facilities.

Following a government decision of 31 October 2012, the governance of the National Library of Ireland will change. Legislation providing for this change will be presented to the Cabinet in the near future. We will continue to make the case for additional resources and we will work to ensure that the library derives the greatest possible benefit from the technological developments which have transformed the library world. The transformation programme currently in train at the national library will see the creation of a twenty-first century library capable of supporting the needs of both existing users and future generations. The library's collections are a national resource but their potential can only be fully realised with appropriate planning and investment. Delivering the widest possible access to these collections is central to our mission and we are completely committed to playing our part in the development of any national genealogical resource.