Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy will be aware of the 2009 budget announcement of the rationalisation of agencies under the aegis of this Department to include the amalgamation of the National Archives and the Irish Manuscripts Commission into the National Library of Ireland to become the National Library and Archives of Ireland. In the case of this merger, the structure will become clearer when the necessary legislation has been finalised. This will require substantial amendment to the National Archives Act 1986, the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997 and the Heritage Fund Act 2000. The memorandum and articles of association of the Irish Manuscripts Commission, and its position as a guarantee company, will be extinguished while the functions of the commission will be transferred into the new body, mutatis mutandis. As the Minister has previously stated, the Department has considered the corporate and legislative position of each of the institutions in order to draft proposals for the appropriate legislation to give effect to the decision to merge these bodies.

That merger will take place in the context of a federal-type structure whereby the different bodies would keep their identity. To take one example, I would be very familiar with the Irish Manuscripts Commission. which does fantastic work. I can think of a couple of productions last autumn which the Taoiseach launched at Birr Castle, including the 800 to 900 page Ross papers, covering the period from the 1640s through to the mid-20th century. These contained fascinating material both about the Confederate wars and Sir Lawrence Parsons, who later became Earl of Rosse, was admired by Wolfe Tone and was a leading anti-Union member of the old Irish Parliament.

More recently, I reviewed for The Irish Times three volumes of the journals of the Irish House of Lords, which were again fascinating. Deputies might not be aware that the origin of the free envelopes scheme is the mid-17th century. It was a measure designed against Charles I to allow free correspondence between MPs and the people, and its effect was extended to Ireland during the Cromwellian period. Few of us think of that scheme as having its origins back then. An interesting feature of that scheme is that not merely could MPs, now TDs, send post free of charge to their constituents, but their constituents could send letters to them free of charge. Somewhere in the past 300 years, the reciprocal nature of this arrangement has gone missing. Whether it would be worthy of revival or whether we have enough post to deal with is a matter for debate.

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