Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I am glad to hear the programme will continue and that Galway is included in the list of new and extended libraries. We have had some very good developments in the past. Students, in particular, use libraries, as do retired people and, without wishing to categorise anyone, those who are unemployed and people with disabilities. There are very good facilities in place. I repeat, however, the point about school libraries. It is a different and separately funded service, but it must be promoted in the context of the Government's proposal, with which we all agree, on literacy and numeracy.

The most famous public library of all is perhaps the National Library of Ireland, which magnificent facility and building successive Governments have failed adequately to fund. The acting director has said there was a cutback in 2014 of 42% on the figure for the previous year, while I note that there has been an increase in visitor numbers of 85% since 2009. The National Library of Ireland is very important in terms of tourism and for Irish residents and if we have continual cutbacks, the results will be very serious. Some of the €2 million provided by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, went to the National Library of Ireland, which was only right.

Let us ensure we do not cut back on libraries. Certainly, we should not cut back on staff numbers. We are a long way behind our neighbours in Scotland and Wales, in particular, on staffing and I would like to see the investment in libraries continue. We should look at counties with huge geographic areas that need mobile libraries and new investment. While there is, rightly, a great deal of funding in Dublin, given its huge population, we sometimes might forget about towns with huge rural hinterlands that do not have the same library facilities.

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