Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

We continue the debate we started on priority questions and I thank the Chair for the meeting I had with him. Any organisation or institution worthy of its name will regularly examine and analyse what is going well and the areas in need of reform. Our cultural and artistic institutions do this regularly. Their point is that they do not want change just for the sake of it. In general, the artistic and cultural organisations have been working well. If the car is going well, why tinker with the engine?

These proposals were first made in an interdepartmental report in 1974. The proposed amalgamations were rejected then on the grounds that there were distinct differences in the disciplines involved, there were serious problems with space for amalgamated entities, there was no indication of money savings and because the National Archives had statutory standing. Those reasons are still valid. All are agreed that a sound and thorough cost-benefit analysis is vital. Also vital is real and meaningful consultation with the bodies involved. The Minister said he has an open door for anyone who wants to come and speak to him on this issue. It is vital that all the boards are independent in order to ensure proper governance. They must also be expertise-led, and board members must have real experience in the arts and of maintaining budget discipline. The current boards have been doing well in this regard. I have an issue with regard to the payment of expenses for board members, but I am aware that many of the members of these boards have waived expenses. All the institutions agree with the shared services notion, but they want the principle of "arm's length" kept intact. They have already been coping with cuts. Putting culture under one rule is dangerous, just as putting the media under one hand is dangerous.

Mention has been made of Canada. It is the only country where national archives and libraries have been amalgamated, but considerable funding was invested in that. The director of Library and Archives Canada who had pushed for the merger maintains now that he is unsure whether it is working. Proposed amalgamations in other countries have also been rejected. Archives are different to libraries. There have been successful partnerships between them but a library is primarily a library whereas the National Archives of Ireland has a statutory responsibility for records created by the State. Some 45 people work in the National Archives of Ireland compared with 160 people in the National Archives of Scotland and 180 people in the corresponding organisation in Denmark. These are countries with similar bases. Given the approach of the decades of commemoration there will be a vital role for these perfectly well functioning institutions.

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