Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As I have outlined, eight elements of the NLI redevelopment have been completed. The planning permission process is being worked through for the next element but until the library has permission and until it is approved by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, we will not know when construction is going to start. It is obviously a particular challenge to redevelop an historic library. On the one hand, we must preserve the heritage while, on the other, we want to make sure it is protected against fire and protect the vital assets. We also want to make it disability-friendly so the facilities are accessible. There are competing requirements there. It is a difficult thing to achieve but they are making progress.

The Senator made a very good point about digital archives. We know how long a sheet of paper or a piece of papyrus will last and we know that we can keep those things but how long will digitised formats last? He also made the point that as a copyright library, it is entitled to a copy of every published item in the UK or Ireland but does it have access to digitally published items? This is worth discussing. We are not going to do it right now but it is something for a committee to discuss, and maybe the committee that the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, sits on. It is a worthwhile question to raise.