Mr. Eoin McVey:

I will defer to Dr. Collins for the nitty-gritty in addressing this question, but, frankly, the major priority now is the capital development project. It is enormous. The OPW is responsible for the building, but we are responsible for the contents and the library's users. It is a major development. I am sure there were some difficult experiences during the renovation of Leinster House, and the NLI building is the same age and poses an awful lot of problems. We are determined, however, that we want to have all this huge reworking of the internal space done and to stay open while that is going on. We also want to ensure that the integrity of the contents is not in any way impaired.

If the project is done on time and in the way it is planned, then it will be a much better building for visitors. We will have exhibitions based on three floors. There will be a shop and a proper restaurant. We will have much better ways of getting people in to taste the library and there will be more footfall as a result. Hopefully, then, people will find that the library has much more to offer and that it will be a little bit like the experience of the school kids who visited and then wanted to come back again.

The Deputy asked about our priorities and strategy. We are mindful of the importance of the capital development programme. The need to embrace diversity and inclusion is important and ongoing, as we said previously, and we are concentrating our energy and time on coming up with more ways in which we can develop that programme. I will pass over to Dr. Collins to develop this point.