Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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650. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will ringfence funding for a project of a new long promised library (details supplied). [39817/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The provision of library services, including the provision of library buildings, is primarily a matter for local authorities in their capacity as library authorities under the Local Government Act 2001. Accordingly, the delivery of library services in Blackrock/Mahon is primarily a matter for Cork City Council.

In my reply to Parliamentary Question 16926/24 which was submitted by the Deputy, I advised that my Department had invited proposals for funding under a new Libraries Capital Programme in April 2023. Cork City Council did not submit a proposal for Blackrock/Mahon as discussions with other stakeholders in the project had not been concluded before the submission date.

In April of this year I announced the new Libraries Capital Programme for the period 2023-2027, which will invest €22.6m in 11 state-of-the-art infrastructure projects and a further €2.6m in 12 next generation mobile library vehicles. As a result, the Libraries Capital Programme is now fully committed and it is not possible to allocate funding to any additional projects at this time.