Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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750. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there are plans to provide public access to the Land Commission records that are held in storage in Portlaoise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15223/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There are no immediate plans to provide general public access to the Land Commission records that are held in Portlaoise. Given the age and fragility of these paper records it would not be appropriate at this time to grant members of the public access to the records as the records would likely suffer damage as a result of more frequent handling.

My officials are planning to digitise the search aids used by staff to find documents within the repository and in due course the digitised search aids may be made available to the public online.

In the meantime, Records Branch staff continues to provide copy documents and maps to those individuals who qualify under the Land Purchase Act Rules. For the most part those documents are required to clarify legal issues on title.

Additionally, pursuant to section 42 of the Data Protection Act 2018, www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2018/act/7/section/42/enacted/en/html#sec42 which permits access to personal data for the purpose of processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes, or statistical purposes, the Department has been trialling providing access to the records on a case by case basis to academics undertaking research projects in the public interest.