Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I listened very carefully to the Minister of State's response. My proposed legislation does not specify a period. It provides that this must be done as part of the decade of centenaries. As I said, the Minister, Deputy Martin, has already indicated that preparatory work has been done. We know from the previous two digitisation projects the various work that is required, although one or both of those projects was on microfiche which may be more onerous. To use the new terminology, a lot of learning has already happened, especially given the digitisation of the military pension service records in the Bureau of Military History. There is a skill set already in existence and an understanding. The Bill provides for a Taoiseach to take the required steps to allow the digitisation and release of these records ahead of schedule. The Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, referred to a schedule of April 2026. I would prefer an earlier date, which is the purpose of the Bill. The earlier the better is the view of most people.

The House should not divide on this issue. It is just a matter of accelerating the work, which can be done. We know of many other organisations that have taken on tasks just as complex as the digitisation of forms and they have been successful. Complexity is not an excuse to delay the Bill.

It was interesting to read about this matter in Ireland's Genealogical Gazette.It highlighted that the census of 1921 was cancelled or delayed until 1926 and here we are in 2021 delaying the publication of those records until 2026.

On our delaying of this year’s census until next year, the gazette states, "This was certainly an unexpected addition to the events within the 'Decade of Centenaries'." We have had a delayed census on two occasions, 100 years apart.

The aim is to ensure the information I am referring to is another part of the jigsaw. In 2013 this matter was the responsibility of the Department of the Taoiseach, because it pertained to the CSO. The then Minister of State in the Department, Deputy Paul Kehoe, stated "The Government is of the view that early publication, before vital preparatory work has been undertaken, is premature". That was eight years ago. I hope the work will have started. The Minister who is currently responsible, Deputy Catherine Martin, has already said it. It was interesting that, in the period in question, the programme for Government allowed for, or sought, the early publication of the census. The Government went back on what it had intended.

In many ways, we are where we are. Again, I appeal to the Minister of State to reconsider the amendment he has tabled and allow the granting of special heritage status. It would be on a once-off basis and would not involve any other census on which people have been given a guarantee of a period of 100 years.

A former colleague from the Seanad, Mr. Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, made the point quite well that the arrangement I seek would be once-off and that this would be the only occasion on which we would expect the State to go back on a promise it made, albeit to a lot of people who have since passed away. In 2011 there were only 400 people in the State who were 100 years old. I realise there is an ageing population but there will be very few aged 100 in 2026. Those aged 100 now were one or younger when the 1926 was taken. Therefore, the impact on their lives would be minimal, if there would be any at all. In fact, it would probably be beneficial to them to see what their parents and relatives got up to at the time in question and what they wrote in the records.

It is very interesting to look at pension records. Many families presume their fathers were this, that or the other, but they are sometimes described in unexpected ways. There may have been different holdings and different relations. The data might have us ask who a certain character in a household was in the belief he or she was not a relative. This opens a layer of interesting facts. The release of the census data is not going to affect those in their late 90s or those aged 100 in any major way. It would be beneficial, especially given the period covered. There is no other 15-year period in Irish history that had so much upheaval and change, and that is why special heritage status has been sought and why I have linked it to the Decade of Centenaries, such that it would fall in line with the pension records, in particular, but also others. Dealing with the pension records comprised a huge undertaking. Data are still being published. In the case of pensions, data have to be double-checked and triple-checked, even more than with census records, because of the risk of material having fallen into the wrong accounts and all of that.

It is a pity the State has taken the position it has taken. The number of people who seek to gain access to the Military Archives shows there is an appetite for information. The National Archives has always sought additional moneys so it could store physical paperwork properly in order that it would be available not only to the current generation but also to future generations. Then, at least, it would not be stored in containers in Galway. I believe the barracks is where all the pension records were contained. They were damp and falling apart, and that is why there was a delay in putting some online. They were never properly stored.

The Coimisiún na Gaeltachta census has disappeared. Nobody seems to know where the documents have gone and the number of pages. Some basement in some Department somewhere has all the documents and it does not know what they are. Obviously, they have never been looked at since they were produced. An Garda Síochána denied it has the documents. The Department responsible for the Gaeltacht said it never heard of the census and the CSO said it had nothing to do with it because it was not around at the time it was taken. It is interesting how records get lost. I hope somebody finds them.

As I mentioned, there are other records. The Land Commission records from 1921 contain a huge amount of information that would be so valuable to those of us studying what happened in that period. We are in the Decade of Centenaries. There are probably other records. The State should consider how it could fund and help our national cultural institutions to digitise more of their historic documents.

Tá sé tábhachtach go mbeadh an daonáireamh seo foilsithe chomh luath agus is féidir. Níl mé ag lorg go mbeidh sé foilsithe amárach agus táim réalaíoch go leor chun a thuiscint nach féidir é sin a dhéanamh. Bhí sé leagtha síos, ámh, sa Bhille gur chuid den Decade of Centenaries a bhí i gceist ó 1913 go dtí 1923 agus go mbeadh sé foilsithe mar chuid de sin, agus is féidir leis a bheith cúpla mí deireanach, más gá, ach go dtarlódh sé. Is é sin an fáth nach dtuigim nach mbeidh sé foilsithe mar léireodh na sonraí a bheadh istigh ansin an tionchar a d’imir imeachtaí cinniúnacha, mar shampla, ar an tsochaí sa tír seo ag an am go gearrthéarmach nó, b’fhéidir go fadtéarmach. Luaim an Frithdhúnadh in 1913, bunú na nÓglach, Arm Cathartha na hÉireann nó Chumann na mBan, nó a leithéid, mar aon le Cogadh na nDúchrónach, an Cogadh Cathartha agus, fiú amháin, bunú an dá stát sa tír seo. Is trua gur ghlac an Rialtas an cinneadh moill bhreise a chur leis seo mar is an t-aon rud atá á rá aige ná go gcuirfear moill bliana air seachas go bhfuil sé ag tarlú i mbliana.

Beidh sé spéisiúil, má tá vóta air seo, maidir le roinnt daoine a bhí sa Seanad nuair a caitheadh an vóta an uair dheireanach agus féachaint ar an tslí a chaithfidh siad an vóta anseo. Bhí roinnt acu sa Rialtas ag an am agus nach bhfuil sa Rialtas anois agus roinnt eile acu ag an am sa Fhreasúra ag tabhairt tacaíocht don Bhille atá sa Rialtas anois. Beidh mé ag féachaint air sin.

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