Written answers

Thursday, 6 October 2016

Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government

Library Services

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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140. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to set out in tabular form the amount spent by each individual local authority on library services; the number of libraries under each local authority and if they are open on a full-time or part-time basis. [29170/16]

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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141. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to set out in tabular form the number of staff employed in the library service in each local authority area; the number of staff that were full-time and the number that were part-time for each of the years from 2006 to date in 2016. [29171/16]

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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142. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to set out in tabular form the total and per capita spend per council on the book fund for public libraries for each of their local authority areas. [29172/16]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 140 to 142, inclusive, together.

Under section 78 of the Local Government Act 2001, the provision and management of library services is a matter for each local authority in its capacity as a library authority. Accordingly, expenditure on library services and book funds by local authorities, the number of library branches in each area and whether they open on a full or a part-time basis are generally matters to be determined by each local authority. My Department has no direct role in these matters and the information sought is not available in my Department. Information is compiled by the Department on annual revenue budgets adopted by local authorities, which includes a breakdown for library and archive services. Data in respect of 2016 are available at the following link:.

In order to support the development of new library projects, capital funding is made available by my Department each year; in 2016, €2.75m nationally is provided for this purpose. In addition, limited funding is available to support local authorities in meeting the costs associated with libraries including the costs of operating from leased premises; in 2016, approximately €1m nationally is provided for this purpose.

Under section 159 of the Act, each local authority Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of their local authority. My Department works closely with each local authority to ensure the right number of staff are in place for optimal service delivery. However, it is a matter for each Chief Executive to recruit and assign staff to specific business areas within their organisation, including in the library service.

My Department gathers quarterly data on staff numbers in local authorities. This data does not provide detail on the number of personnel employed in the library service within each local authority. Accordingly, the information requested is not available in my Department.

Further information in relation to staffing and funding of library services may be obtained from individual local authorities.

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