Mr. Eoin McVey:

I have to defer again to Dr. Collins. As far as the reductions we suffered over the past five years are concerned, they were not at the senior executive level, but we did suffer from the non-replacement of staff. You always have to get permission to replace somebody, no matter what his or her function is, or how important it is. Sometimes that can take some time, and sometimes permission is not obtained at all. We suffered most from the loss of operational staff, such as those in the reading room and ancillary services. Thankfully, we are building back up slowly from that.

With regard to the comparable libraries in Scotland, Wales and elsewhere, the increase was huge. I am not conscious of what those libraries are doing that we are not. I will defer to Dr. Collins, who may have more knowledge of what they are up to with their huge number of staff.