Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes I come into this place and I wonder whether the English language has any real meaning at all in here. I listened carefully to the Minister of State's reply. He said he understands there are some concerns. The Minister of State is not talking about library workers going on their tea break and saying, on balance, they think there might be some issues with his proposals. Hundreds of workers in the library services he is in charge of are balloting for industrial action due to the proposals. For the Minister of State to say he realises there is some concern is putting the situation rather mildly.

The Minister of State said the libraries are adapting to change and taking on new challenges. That is more Government-speak. If I left this place and someone were to come up to me and give me a kick in the thigh while wearing a pair of studded football boots, I would have to adapt to change and start taking on new challenges. It is not necessarily a positive thing that libraries must adapt to change when the change amounts to making the decision-making structures within the libraries far more remote and less responsive to local and community needs than was the case previously. My supplementary question is whether the Minister of State is prepared to stop this crazy plan and to recognise that given the economic recovery it is time to invest in a serious way in the public library service, in particular to start recruiting young people to it.

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