THE need for the Genealogical Office to be recognised separately from the National Library, because of its functions, was emphasised by Ms Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) in the Seanad.
Introducing the National Cultural Institutions Bill, the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, said that because of a legal doubt in a 1943 Order as to whether the Genealogical Office had actually been established, it now had to be technically "created" and then technically "abolished", so that three existing functions could formally be reconstructed and assigned to the National Library.
The Bill establishes autonomous boards to manage and care for the collections of the National Museum and the National Library.
This autonomy, the Minister said, would, among other things, give both institutions greater discretion over the handling of budgets, some flexibility over personnel resources and stronger powers to develop policies on acquisition.
The Genealogical Office would be best served by confirming that its existence lay folly within the framework of the new Library Board.
Mr David Norris (Ind) said that while the Minister had stated that the Office was not being abolished band its work was not being diminished, that was not the understanding of those in the genealogical profession.
A key section of the Bill purported to abolish this oldest office of the State, which had a distinguished ancestry. He was delighted that the Minister had indicated now that he would not extinguish this Office, which should be kept separate with appropriate staff.
Mr Paschal Mooney (FF) said the Government must make a choice either to establish an independent autonomous organisation or to tie the Office by legislation to some national institution.
Mr Feargal Quinn (Ind) said it was ironic that they were discussing a grandiose statutory framework for the National Library - an institution that was dying on its feet for the want of money. It was very low on the Government's list of cultural priorities, and he did not think the Bill would change that.
Pointing to the existence of new commercial opportunities in the "Information Age", Mr Quinn suggested that joint ventures with private companies would create a valuable new income stream for both the National Museum and the National Library.