Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has agreed that access to these records is in the public interest but they are fragile and require digitisation. They are a real treasure trove. It was announced by the Department that there was going to be a move towards providing some access to them. It has moved on a little bit in that the Department is engaging with the National Archives, which was a great deal of expertise in this area, but it may not have capacity given the extent of the records held. Even the pre-1922 records would be of enormous historical significance and help. It is a useful response but, while it says that it is in the public interest for these records to be made available, it is not entirely clear as to how that is to happen.