Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This week, I joined IMPACT library staff in Dún Laoghaire's Lexicon library who were expressing their opposition to a council management decision to proceed with the policy of unstaffed libraries. I accept that HR matters are matters that concern council management, but at a time when our public library service is being eroded, libraries are being closed and a policy of staffless libraries is being pursued while a national tender for library stock is being considered, we should start a national conversation about the value of library services. Their space is democratic, cultural, economical, education and social. Few other spaces can boast such a diversity of service focal points. What value do we place on this combination of classes, workshops, programming and supports for combating digital exclusion? For Sinn Féin, this represents accessibility and inclusivity, none of which would be possible in staffless and underfunded or closed libraries.

In this light, I request the presence of the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Humphreys, or the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, to progress this conversation on the downgrading of our library services.