Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kitt for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, and for providing me with an opportunity to set out the position on funding for the public library services. I would like to state at the outset my own personal commitment to the library service and to library facilities, which make a real difference to communities across the country by offering them the opportunity to learn, read and enjoy a range of material.

The total local authority budget in respect of libraries in 2014 was €143.4 million and funding allocations in respect of libraries in 2015 will see funding of the same order provided to this valuable service. In addition to this funding, my own Department directly provided capital grant aid for libraries totalling €1 million and current expenditure of €1.2 million in 2014 to the service. The capital grant aid allocation for 2015 is €1.5 million, with an allocation of €900,000 for current expenditure.

My Department and the local authorities are committed to the implementation of an ambitious programme for the development of the public library service. This is demonstrated in the public library strategy, Opportunities for All, which sets out a five year strategy for the future of the public library service in Ireland and provides a framework for the development of the public library service in Ireland from 2013 to 2017. In line with national and local government policy, the strategy provides innovative measures to manage existing resources more efficiently in order to continue to develop and deliver a library service which meets the information, learning and cultural needs of individuals and communities and, in so doing, contributes to economic recovery and social and cultural improvement. It also contains a strong commitment to a programme for the development of services to individual users and communities in the public library service which will improve the already high quality of the service.

To further enhance the service, my Department has also requested local authorities to implement new library structures and other provisions recommended in the report, Managing the Delivery of Effective Library Services, in line with Government policy. The objective is to establish stronger, more effective and efficient public libraries and deliver better library services to local communities and citizens.

A shared structure is essential to allow smaller library services to reach the capacity required to deliver the necessary improvements. We are continuing to build on the progress achieved in the library service in recent years with the opening of 145 new state-of-the-art libraries throughout the country and a substantial refurbishment programme for existing libraries. During 2014 seven new or extended libraries opened across a number of local authority areas, including counties Dublin, Limerick, Louth, Longford and Mayo. In 2015 the Lexicon Library in Dún Laoghaire has already opened and an additional six new or extended libraries are planned to open, including services in counties Galway, Wicklow, Waterford, Cork and Laois. It is clear from the ongoing investment that there is a continuing commitment to the public library service. I look forward to the opening of each of these libraries and the continued development of library services across Ireland in the coming years. They are of obvious benefit to young and old in communities across the country.

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