Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State identified this section as relating to records. Records can be interpreted in a very narrow or wide way. Documents, maps and files are records, but the source documents which may have been involved in the creation of Ordnance Survey maps and materials input are also relevant. In many cases there is a huge historical archive in the process of mapmaking that OSI has undertaken. We know, for example, that place names are a key issue in Translations. OSI has had a particular mandate in terms of Irish and English place names, and is often very involved in strong local engagement, locally and historically, around the origins and appropriate translations of names. There is a wealth of material underneath the Ordnance Survey maps that we have. I urge the Minister of State to take the widest interpretation of records and not deal with end product pieces but also the ancillary materials that have contributed to a record. They are an incredible resource for us as a nation.