Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)

While I agree with the Deputy, I do not have direct responsibility for the General Register Office. The Deputy will be aware that in the autumn I brought together all of those involved in the country in genealogy. We had a successful forum, under the chairmanship of Judge McMahon, in the National Library, at which this issue was raised. I am awaiting a report from the group. The General Register Office is an important source of information. I agree with the Deputy that the more information we can make available to the Diaspora the better and the more sources there are through which people can make connections and trace their roots, the more interest there will be . We must ensure all of the information is digitised and made available to a global audience. I previously informed the Deputy that I intended to introduce legislation to enable digitisation of the 1926 census returns. The legislation has been approved by the Cabinet. Following its enactment, I will have to come up with the resources to implement it. I cannot start the process until the enabling legislation has been passed. It is hoped it will be ready in June or July.

I am aware of the importance of this issue to the Deputy. I agree that it is important we make every source of information available to allow people, irrespective of where they are in the world, to make a connection with this country.

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