Sir, – The Archives and Records Management Association, Ireland (ARAI) welcomes the recent highlighting of the issue of the proposed merger of the National Archives, National Library and Irish Manuscripts Commission. The association has expressed its concerns about this matter to ministers since the proposal was first mooted in 2008.
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan has raised the possibility of moving the National Archives out of his department and into the National Library. This plan would be detrimental to the work of the National Archives. The statutory functions of the National Archives require it to oversee the preservation of records by all government departments, offices of State and the Courts Service.
Archivists from the National Archives are bound by the Official Secrets Act and work closely with civil servants in government departments and agencies to ensure records are retained and preserved for their future transfer to the National Archives, where they will be open to the public. If the National Archives were removed from the Civil Service, it would be difficult to see how it could carry out its core statutory function.
The impetus for the Government’s current proposal to merge the National Library, National Archives and Irish Manuscripts Commission is that it will save money. Could the Department of Arts please outline how it will save money? In 2004 the national archives and library of Canada were merged at a cost of $15 million (€11.6 million). If the Government really wants to save money, we would urge them to relinquish the idea of a merger and instead to support the institutions in the valuable services they provide to the State and the public. – Yours, etc,