Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)

I wish to ask the Minister of State about the future of Cork City Library. We have a fantastic library service in Cork city but the building is not fit for purpose. The roof leaks and parts of the library have been closed off to the public. It is not acceptable in this day and age. Even more disappointing is that four years ago, the Taoiseach announced that €50 million would be spent transforming Grand Parade with a new public library, a new central plaza and boardwalk to facilitate cultural and recreational activities. The vision was big, with a planned 7,700 sq. m library capable of facilitating 1 million visitors per year. Four years later, however, our library is nowhere to be seen. It is not acceptable. This is just a pattern of under-delivery for Cork city. Time and again, we see these announcements of big capital projects that fail to be delivered on. We can talk about the events centre and the dental school in that regard. Again and again, projects are announced that are not delivered on.

This is a very large sum of public money. A total of €50 million was promised to be spent. We know that of that €50 million, some €7 million has been spent on upgrading Bishop Lucey Park, which is very welcome, but that leaves approximately €43 million to be spent. There is a huge lack of transparency about this project and the money. It is utterly unacceptable. It is not for the lack of asking questions. I have met council officials and the librarian and I have submitted repeated questions but I have not received any information about where this project or the money is at, nor when we are going to get a new library for Cork city.

To that end, I held a public meeting last weekend to hear the views of my constituents. There is huge interest and engagement from members of the public. There is a clear demand for a new public library in the middle of Cork city that meets the needs of today and tomorrow.

It is really disappointing that, in the four years since that funding was announced, there was no public consultation. It takes public representatives like me to organise engagement with the community to hear their views about what they would like to see in that library. It is really clear what people want. They want a world-class library for Cork city, a 21st-century library in the heart of our city. The advantage of building this new library is that it will tackle some of the ongoing dereliction on Grand Parade. This money could be spent in both addressing the vacant and derelict sites in the middle of the city that need to be tackled and building us a library that meets the needs of today and tomorrow. This includes addressing the needs of the arts and culture community, including spaces for film, craft and expanding the music library, including maker spaces, as well as the local study section. It should also include a small theatre space because Cork is lacking a small theatre space in our city. This could be provided in the new public library.

There is also a real demand for a library of things, not just a library of books. I refer to a place where people could borrow tools, games and music instruments for their children. This is more sustainable and cost effective. People want a library that is open late where they can share stories and ideas, a melting pot for our diverse city. They want it to be a cathedral of learning, a place open to all. In a city that is very commercial, it is one of the few places that is free to use and open to a diverse array of citizens right across the city.

If we look around Ireland at all the places where new public libraries have been built, really good results and use have been achieved. For example, the numbers using the library in Dún Laoghaire have doubled since the refurbishment, going to, on average, 1,300 per day. We know from research that Cork city has the highest library use per capita in the country. In 2023, 882,031 items were borrowed from libraries in Cork city but we do not have a library that is fit for purpose and meets the needs of the city. Approximately €43 million or more is sitting there that was announced by the Taoiseach. It is not being used to build this library and I know want to know why.

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