Library Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central

I thank Deputy Rice for raising the matter. I concur with him that we have an extraordinary dedicated library staff in Cork city right across all sections of our library service. As the Deputy will be well aware, the current libraries capital programme 2023-2027 is investing €22.6 million in 11 state-of-the-art library infrastructure projects around the country and a further €2.6 million in 12 next-generation mobile library vehicles across Ireland. Funding of €8.3 million has been provided by our Department to support Cork City Council's public library services since 2019, through the libraries capital programme and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund. Details of this expenditure will be provided separately to Deputy Rice as requested.
As the Deputy will be aware, the provision of library services is primarily a matter for local authorities - in this case, Cork City Council - in their capacity as library authorities under the Local Government Act 2001.
The Cork city library is one element of the overall Grand Parade quarter project, which is being funded through the urban regeneration and development fund, administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. My officials are in regular contact with colleagues in the URDF unit in that Department on the matter. In line with a commitment in the national public library strategy, the libraries development unit in our Department issued updated public library standards and benchmarks to all library authorities, including Cork City Council, earlier this year.
We all share the ambition to have a state-of-the-art library in Cork City Council. I got involved in politics campaigning for my own local library in Bishopstown, where we had none. Thankfully, we have a magnificent library now adjacent to Wilton Shopping Centre. Like Deputy Rice, we in this Department, with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, share the ambition to have a modern state-of-the-art library for Cork city. That is a project we will all support.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26