Some Government departments, and in particular the Department of Agriculture, have not performed satisfactorily their duty to transfer old records to the National Archives, according to the annual report of the National Archives Advisory Council.
The report, which covers the 1999 period, makes a number of recommendations to the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, on improving staffing, facilities and buildings at the National Archives so as to best preserve important historical and Departmental records.
The council, chaired by Dr Margaret MacCurtain and composed of 13 academics, archivists, historians and local authority representatives, reiterated its concern at the "failure of some Departments to transfer records as required" and "in particular at the continuing failure of particular Departments to clear the backlog of pre-1960 records".
The report "notes with regret" the "continued failure to improve staffing levels".