Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Our cultural institutions are a shop window to our culture and heritage. We have to note with alarm the concerns being expressed about the National Museum which says it has to cut back on tours and opening hours. The National Library and the National Archives are stretched to breaking point. Their funding compares very unfavourably with that in other countries, for example, Denmark and Scotland.

We all know the great affection people who were not born here have for this country. Some identify with it and that affinity brings a tremendous benefit because they come here as tourists and buy Irish produce, and are well-disposed to Ireland in all sorts of ways. Our cultural institutions must be resourced as part of that. The grant aid to the National Museum has been cut by 40% from €19 million to €11.5 million per annum. The National Museum and the National Library have also lost income from other sources, such as sales in the book shops. We lost our public records in 1922 which should make us all the more careful with our records. Only 1% of the National Library collection is conserved to international standards. In the National Archives there are 70,000 boxes of records that have not even been catalogued and cannot be searched.

These institutions do fantastic work on a shoestring. They are at breaking point, and have been for some time. The amount of money taken from them is disproportionately large in comparison with that taken from some other public services. Their contents belong to the Irish people. The Department’s role is to preserve and protect them. There has to be serious reinvestment in all those institutions. The amount of money needed, relative to the return, is small.

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For example, people queue down the stairs in the National Library each July and August to avail of the genealogy services it runs. The library is trying to maintain such services, which matter greatly to the public. People are prepared to come into the library to engage with the records stored there. I would like to Minister to set out her approach to the budget with regard to all of these institutions. Does she accept that they are at breaking point at this stage? If so, it is obvious what approach she will take at the Cabinet table.

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