Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

At its peak in 2007, the National Library had €13.2 million, taking into account capital and current amounts. This was reduced to €6.3 million in 2014, again based on capital and current amounts. I acknowledge that there was an improvement this year, but there were extra demands because of that new service, which is more than welcome. I salute the library for its efforts in respect of the church records. It has been forced to scale back on many of its operations. The largest number of requests are from family research groups, which means there is a role in terms of tourism. Once people find their connections, they will visit the area, so it has a definite return. Things that are not being done include the national collection, only 1% of which is conserved to international standards. I have told the Minister on several occasions that there is a fire risk associated with the collection. It is the kind of thing in respect of which we need to learn lessons from our previous history.

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