Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. The information he provided is factually correct. This service is not currently funded by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. There is a proposal from the NCBI for a service level agreement or partnership approach to funding it. This week, the State announced free school books for everybody but if this service is not funded by the State, a voluntary NGO will not have the resources to keep supporting this project. I would hate to see what has been achieved through Bookshare lost. In the overall context, €100,000 per year, which I understand is the request, is not a huge amount of money but the difference it would make to many thousands of people in this country is immense. I would appreciate it if the Minister would pass on those comments to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. Hopefully, this situation can be resolved.