Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I encourage Members to visit the National Archives, either as members of the public - applications for a reader's card are now online and it is a very simple process - or, alternatively, if they would like to visit the Bishop Street building to see the work that goes on there and be briefed on plans for the new archival repository, I would be happy to ask the director to make arrangements for a delegation from this House to visit.

On Deputy Mattie McGrath's question regarding exactly what court records are held by the National Archives, court records are defined as departmental records under the terms of the National Archives Act 1986. The majority of court records held, some of which he outlined, date from the foundation of the modern Irish State in 1922 and include those of the District Court, the Circuit Court, the High Court, the Central Criminal Court, the Court of Criminal Appeal and the Supreme Court. Some earlier court records predating the destruction in 1922 are held by the National Archives. These include registers of petty sessions, quarter sessions, assizes and high courts. Many of these records survive because they were not transferred to the Public Record Office of Ireland by local court offices before 1922. The National Archives also holds some copies and transcripts of destroyed records, including transcripts of medieval rolls made by the Irish Record Commission and copies of legal and testamentary records obtained from various sources, most notably private collections donated by solicitors. As Deputy Catherine Murphy referenced, one of the great legacy projects of the decade of centenaries is the virtual Beyond 2022, a capital project the Department funded, that builds a digital repository of many of the records lost in 1922.

Prison records are held by the National Archives and are available for inspection by members of the public, subject to general data protection regulation requirements where people are still living.

Most, if not all, Members raised the issue of Land Commission records. The digitisation of those records is being led by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. A limited number of records are held by the National Archives and a process is proposed to catalogue same. The vast majority, however, are working records, as Deputy Catherine Murphy referenced, and are held by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which has started a process to digitise search aids for millions of Land Commission records. While it is a matter for that Department, I understand this process will take a number of years.

I think I have addressed all the questions. If I have left something out, my officials will get back to Deputies. I recognise and appreciate their great interest in this area, and the endless fascinating discussions that can be generated from any material held by the National Archives. I have no doubt Members saw the wonderful Anglo-Irish Treaty exhibition either at Dublin Castle or as it toured the country last year. I hope they will shortly get an opportunity to see Michael Collins's diaries, which are in the National Archives. I promise Deputies that, in a few short years, the opening of a new archival repository will provide a fitting home for our heritage and a showcase for many wonderful exhibitions into the future.

As I said, the National Archives is one of the State's most important national cultural institutions and plays an essential part in the cultural life of the country by collecting, managing and preserving the public record of Ireland. It also plays a key role in the day-to-day management of the current records of Departments and State agencies. The National Archives have a long history of engagement with the courts and Courts Service. It has proactively engaged with the Courts Service over the past number of years on a range of issues relating to the archival management and transfer of records from the courts. This has included archival and records management guidance input to the Courts Service digital transformation project. The inclusion of the Courts Service on the Schedule to the National Archives Act 1986 will help facilitate greater co-operation with the National Archives within existing legal frameworks for the archival management of public records.

To recap, it is clear that court records remain departmental records of the courts and fall within the scope of sections 7 and 8 of the National Archives Act. The status of the Courts Service as distinct from the courts or court offices under that Act is now being addressed by the proposal to add the Courts Service to the Schedule to the National Archives Act 1986. Court records are covered by this Schedule. The Courts Service administrative records are also likely to be covered but by adding the Courts Service to the Schedule it will put this beyond doubt.

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