Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 570: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of local authorities that employ an archivist; the remit of such an archivist; the instruction which was issued to local authorities by his Department under Section 65 of the 1994 and Section 80 of the 2001 Local Government Acts respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31806/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Information supplied to my Department by local authorities indicates that 12 authorities currently employ an Archivist.

Local authorities were required by section 65 of the Local Government Act, 1994 and more recently Section 80 of the Local Government Act 2001 to make proper arrangements for the management, custody, care and conservation of their records and archives and to provide public access to their archives. In order to support and encourage local authorities this Department, with the assistance of the National Archives, put in place a strategy for the development of archives services.

A survey of the records and archives held by local authorities was conducted in 1995 by the National Archives on behalf of this Department, and a subsequent report on the development of the local authority archives service was published, and is available on the Department's website.

A subsidy scheme was established under which local authorities may recoup 50% of the salary of an archivist employed by them provided the archivist is employed on a regional basis. This scheme was reviewed and a revised scheme notified to local authorities in 1999.

Local authorities may also qualify for up to 50% subsidy in respect of leasing accommodation for the purposes of processing archives, and archives storage facilities have been funded as part of some library projects.