Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the plans and funding in place for the upgrading of the National Library facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18480/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Recognising the inadequacy of the premises occupied by the Library, the State has, since the mid 1990s, supported a major redevelopment programme of those premises. This programme which is being overseen by the Office of Public Works comprises 9 separate phases and includes the upgrading of the security and sprinkler systems in various buildings, the refurbishment of the former National College of Art and Design and the redevelopment of No. 4 Kildare Street as the Library's administrative offices. The proposed new Repository will contain the Library's valuable book collection and manuscripts. The Repository will house active collections that the public use and require access to every day from the Library's reading rooms. The new Repository will act as a Book Store and also as "a bridge" as it will link the disparate buildings of the NLI.

Funding of the Repository for the National Library of Ireland falls within the funding allocated to the National Development Plan. Under this Plan €470 million capital funding has been allocated to the Cultural Sub-Programme in respect of capital projects for the non-commercial National Cultural Institutions. The annual capital funding for these institutions, which is provided to my Department under the Estimates process, is subsumed into the NDP.

The NDP programme for the non-commercial National Cultural Institutions seeks to provide improved/redeveloped facilities that will enhance the display and safe storage of the valuable paintings, artefacts and documents of national importance held in the Collections of these bodies. The badly needed improvements proposed under the NDP will provide a valuable national resource, which will enable Ireland to celebrate its history, to foster its literary and cultural legacies and to enhance the lives of its citizens through access to the national cultural collections held in care by these bodies and they will assist in the establishment of Ireland in the international cultural tourism market. The National Library of Ireland is a vital component of this programme.