Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I have said, it is unfortunate that all the national cultural institutions, including the National Library, have unavoidably suffered cuts in their allocations in recent years. I accept that it has been very difficult for them. As Minister, I will try do my utmost to minimise any future budget cuts to the cultural institutions. I will do what I can to that end, while being cognisant of competing demands on the public finances.

On the question of storage, I remind the Deputy that the National Archives warehouse project has been approved and will commence in 2015. The National Library is talking to University College Dublin and Trinity College to see whether a combined solution is economically feasible. The amount of genealogical material made available on the Internet by the National Archives has increased in spite of the tight budgets. The 1901 and 1911 census returns have registered more than 1 billion hits. This is a testament to their popularity. I will be pursuing with the boards of the National Library and the National Archives the digitisation of material in both institutions.

Earlier this morning, I spoke to John Harnett, who is the chairman of the Inspiring Ireland international advisory board. I foresee the exciting prospect of making our cultural collections available online. While the cutbacks are acknowledged, positive developments such as the visitor numbers and the acquisitions must also be recognised and applauded. These achievements have resulted from the hard work of the staff.

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