Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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283. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will make the necessary investment in the National Library to ensure there is adequate fire prevention measures to protect the collections; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25215/15]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The National Library of Ireland is a statutorily independent body. While my Department provides funding to the national cultural institutions, the management and board of each institution are responsible for all operational matters, including storage, security and conservation, and I do not have a statutory function in respect of such day-to-day matters. It is the responsibility of the management and the board of each institution to determine the spending priorities for their individual institutions, based on the resources available to them and the need to ensure the appropriate conservation and protection of collections. I am, however, aware of the issues at the National Library regarding the collection. In regard to resources, I was pleased, at the conclusion of the recent Estimates processes, not only to have ensured there would be no reduction in funding for the arts and culture areas of my Department for 2015, but also to have secured an additional €2 million in funding for the national cultural institutions. This included an increased allocation of €600,000 for the National Library in 2015. I was also pleased to recently approve a new post in the National Library for a security and facilities manager, which will be key to managing and planning the storage and security of the Library’s collection.

The overall funding secured for 2015 gives more certainty to the institutions and will allow them to continue to deliver on their core objectives, including the protection and conservation of their collections.

I will continue to keep the issue of investment in the Library and in other cultural institutions under review in the light of the resources available to my Department.