Ms Lynn Scarff:

The Senator asked what the National Museum of Ireland needs from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, particularly in terms of the topic we are here to discuss today. The Senator will note from the discussion thus far that there is a significant amount of resource involved in collections loans, delivering programmes, and developing educational events or temporary exhibitions. We need the resources and budget to increase our staff, especially at conservation and curatorial levels and to enable us to bring in expertise. From the point of view of the Local Authority Museums Network, LAMN, appendix 2, attached to the opening statement, sets out the level of engagement of NMI staff throughout the country from the point of view of archaeological digs and engagement with people. This type of interaction takes time. It is a very small team delivering on a legislative role, which is also required to deliver on the role of a national museum. I acknowledge that there has been growth in the past two years but we need more and we need it to be sustainable. Also, many of us are hampered by year-to-year budgets. The ability to plan strategically on a 12 month cycle is difficult. The commitment of Project Ireland 2040 on the capital side, in terms of the opportunities it will provide, has been a very interesting experience for the National Museum. There is great opportunity to consider what those kinds of commitments might look like if stretched beyond a year. This would allow organisations such as the Local Authority Museums Network, the National Museum of Ireland and the Heritage Council to plan at a scale that perhaps we have not been able to in the past.