Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being delayed, as I was speaking in the Seanad. I come to this more as a citizen member than as a genealogical expert. My experience is that irishgeneology.ie, as well as the National Archives and National Library sites have always been excellent. I have seen the impact of the reduction in staff, however, which affects waiting times for overseas visitors. The staff are trying to do their best but we need to examine the impact such cuts are having. We must also examine the fact that not everything can be stored at Bishop Street. I have seen the frustration of people who have travelled a huge distance, yet need to return tomorrow which is sometimes impossible for them to do. Alternatively, they may get a file tomorrow but find that they need something else and have to return on another day. We are still in a climate of cuts, so are there any plans to limit hours? Are there any further cuts we need to be aware of in preparing our report here?

The CSO's 1926 census was mentioned and I hope we will be asking the CSO representatives in here. There was a commitment in the programme for Government to release the 1926 census. I do not accept the arguments for not doing so, because when people filed out that census there was no stay on releasing it for 100 years. There are many good reasons for releasing the 1926 census, as Ms Crowe has outlined.