Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to follow up on the points made by the previous Senator. The Irish library service is a source of national and local pride. Many councillors will know that the library service is passionately supported by local authorities. It is one of the only really continuously positive stories of our local authorities. It is a national resource. Ballyroan and Tallaght libraries come to mind as libraries I visited while on the council.

The issue of procurement of library stock is being highlighted by the Booksellers Association today. The Government is currently planning a blanket, State-wide tender for book stocking across libraries in September 2016. The result will obviously have a considerable economic impact on small bookshops, in addition to specialist Irish library suppliers, be they of children’s books, fiction or otherwise. The proposal has the potential to greatly affect content as Gaeilge across our library service. It is important in the arts that we tell our own stories, on screen or in print. September 2016 is the deadline for State-wide procurement to be stopped. As with the previous Senator, I request a statement from the relevant Minister because time is not on our side.