Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

We are heading into a decade of centenary celebrations. I am a member of the committee chaired by the Minister. Another anniversary must be remembered within the next few days, the destruction of the public records office in the Four Courts in early July 90 years ago. It was the greatest cultural catastrophe that befell the State. Documents stretching back 700 years were destroyed, including the last of the remaining census records. Some were pulped during the First World War because of the shortage of paper. It shows the lack of value placed on our cultural heritage.

Some 90 years later, instead of looking forward to the ten years of centenary celebrations and the vision and opportunity presented to us, we are having a debate about pennypinching. Money cannot be saved because people know about the chronic lack of space in the National Archives of Ireland and the National Library of Ireland when we try to catalogue or display items. The dedicated staff in both institutions cover for much of the failure of the State. I have been there on numerous occasions to use the embarrassing clapped-out microfilm machines.

Several speakers referred to the investment that was made in this area, but the reality is that whatever investment was done was not nearly enough.

We are talking about very small savings here, and the question that must be asked is what we will ultimately end up with. The arm's length and independent status of these institutions is a positive aspect which allows each of them to contribute. Yet there does not seem to have been any serious consultation, including public consultation, on what is now proposed to be done. There is a real danger that we may end up destroying institutions that have been of fantastic value to our society, despite the underfunding they suffered over the years. Part of the reason I did not sign the motion is to do with the very important fact, as I have said, that money should have been invested during the good years. It is only when one visits facilities such as the new public records office in Northern Ireland that one sees the type of investment that was made elsewhere and the return on that investment, even if one is only looking at it from the point of view of cultural tourism.

There is much reference these days to that generic term "shovel-ready projects". If we are to encourage people to come here to do research and so on, then we must, in this year of The Gathering, look to the mothership notion to which David McWilliams has referred. In other words, we must have facilities that are properly resourced and properly functioning. The reality, however, is that we are not even thinking in that direction at this stage. None of us needs to be reminded that the country is in an extremely difficult economic position. However, there are areas in which we must spend money. The area we are discussing today is as worthy of investment as are capital projects such as railways and roads and it too offers a return on investment. As I said, we are facing into ten years of celebrations and commemorations, culminating in 2022. The great irony is that one of the events we will commemorate in that year will be the 100th anniversary of the terrible destruction of our public records office in the Four Courts, an unforgivable catastrophe for this State.

We must adopt a much broader vision which seeks to value that which is important, such as the independence and arms-length design of our cultural institutions. Incidentally, these institutions were inherited; we did not create them. The very least we should demand of ourselves is that we not do them any harm.

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