Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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43. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the proposals in the capital plan for the National Archives; the proposals that will be funded in the first phase; how this funding is intended to address the deficiencies in storage capacity, digital archiving and public accessibility at the National Archives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43689/15]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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This question relates to the capital allocation and the capital plan for the National Archives. What is likely to be contained in the first phase of the plan? Will it address some of the key deficiencies which are putting at risk some of the records in some of the institutions?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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It has long been recognised that the National Archives building at Bishop Street is inadequate for the storage of all State archives and future provision. The site has insufficient flooring and archival shelving in which to store records in an accessible manner, and consequently the building is not being used to maximum advantage. Furthermore, there are no exhibition spaces in Bishop Street to allow the display of rare and important collections. To address this, and as part of the decade of commemorations programme, the Government agreed to provide funding of €8 million for the first phase in a capital development plan at the National Archives. The OPW has recently appointed a design team to the project and I expect it to go to tender shortly, with construction starting in 2016.

This development will address many of the issues with the headquarters of the National Archives by providing additional floor space within the existing building. I am confident the investment plan will allow the National Archives to improve delivery of its core objectives, including the protection and conservation of its collections, as well as allowing it to develop as a venue for research, culture, learning and tourism.

In relation to digital archiving, I was very pleased to have been in a position to provide the National Archives with a special allocation of €150,000 for 2016 to assist in the work being undertaken by it in association with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer on digital records and public sector records management policy.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I have had the benefit of a tour of the National Archives and I have also visited the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, which was built recently. There is a world of difference between them as one is a purpose-built national archive. Some National Archives records are stored off site, some as far away as Portlaoise, which adds to the inefficiency of retrieving documents. When this work is complete, will there be sufficient floor space to have all of the records stored on site, whereby it would not be necessary to have to retrieve materials from various locations?

A significant number of records, some 70,000 boxes, are not catalogued. This makes it very difficult to retrieve these records and use them in a meaningful way for research. Is it intended to deal with this particular aspect or is it more on the revenue side as opposed to the capital side?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The development will be done in phases. The project involves the creation of a modern archive facility on two storeys inside a warehouse at the rear of the National Archives premises. That warehouse is currently being used to store the backlog of uncatalogued and closed archives. The refurbished facility is urgently required because the archival space available to the National Archives is completely full and the warehouse has no shelving or temperature and humidity controls.

Phase one will see the development of full storage over two storeys in half of the warehouse, with linear, fully accessible racking systems being put in place. This phase will also deliver the plant and machinery requirements to allow phases two and three to proceed. In addition, the first phase will provide capacity for an additional 17,000 archival boxes. Phase two will develop full storage over two storeys in the remainder of the warehouse and provide capacity for an additional 22,000 archival boxes. Phase three will develop a storage area over an existing archive storage area and provide capacity for another 3,500 archival boxes.

The three phases of the plan will increase the archival capacity of the National Archives at Bishop Street by approximately 160%. This substantial expansion is intended to meet the institution's needs for some years to come and obviate the requirement for off-site storage in the future, thereby creating significant savings.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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Regarding the allocation on the digital side, is it intended to be used to develop a standard, or is it for the purpose of carrying out specific work? If the latter, will the Minister indicate whether the particular project has been identified at this stage?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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At present, there is no common digital records management and preservation strategy with related guidelines for the public service. Implementation of such a strategy would prevent the loss of born-digital records, which are currently being created and filed in a non-co-ordinated manner. Staff of the National Archives are working with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer to agree a records management policy. The budget allocated €150,000 to assist with this project.