Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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244. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if his Department has offered Sligo County Council additional support of €200,000 per annum to resolve the crisis in the library service; if similar support will be provided for the Donegal library service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28617/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department has not provided financial support to Sligo County Council to alleviate staffing difficulties in the Sligo Library Service. Accordingly, while my Department has recently sanctioned the filling of up to six library posts in Sligo library service, the funding of these posts is a matter solely for Sligo County Council.

My Department continues to work with and support Sligo County Council in the achievement of financial stability through the delivery of its financial plan. In this context, my Department has recently approved a number of changes to the annual savings profiles outlined in the plan. It is a matter solely for Sligo County Council , however, to prioritise and allocate its resources in accordance with section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, including whether or not to use any consequent additional capacity that might arise to fund the recruitment of staff in its library service.