A suitable person cannot be found to fill the post of director of the National Library, the Dail was told. Mr Brendan O'Donoghue, a former secretary of the Department of the Environment, has been acting as the library's administrator, since the retirement of the former director, Dr Patricia Donlon, last year.

Mr Eamonn Gilmore (DL, Dun Laoghaire) said it was highly undesirable that the post of the director of a major national cultural institution should be left vacant for so long. The position was critical to the future development of the library as was seen by the outstanding contribution of Dr Donlon, who had transformed the library during her term of office.

The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, also congratulated Dr Donlon on her work. She said that following Ms Donlon's retirement on health grounds, the Department had requested the Civil Service Commission to hold a competition to fill the post. "The competition failed to yield a suitable candidate for the position."

The question of another public competition was assessed again this year and there was no evidence to suggest that a suitable candidate would be found at that time. The situation would be assessed again next year.

Ms de Valera congratulated Mr O'Donoghue for his foresight and his work and commitment to the library. "There are many issues which he has addressed very happily, not least the opening hours of the reading rooms which have been extended."

Mr Gilmore said it was a most remarkable tribute to Dr Donlon that it would appear she was irreplaceable. He asked if it was a situation where there was nobody available capable of being director of the library. He agreed with the Minister about the good work being done by Mr O'Donoghue, but leaving the post effectively filled on a temporary basis for a long time was not good for the library.

Ms de Valera repeated that competitions had failed to find somebody suitable for the job and that she would review the situation again next year. "Certainly, the work and importance of the National Library cannot be overemphasised, and I recognised this by ensuring there were significant increases in funding for the library."

Mr Michael D Higgins (Labour, Galway West) said he would agree with the tributes paid to Ms Donlon and Mr O'Donoghue. He asked if there were aspects of the post and the conditions attached to it which were limiting the field of applicants. "Director of the National Library of Ireland is one of the most distinguished posts in Europe."

Ms de Valera said she had been advised, as had the trustees of the library, that the post was not likely to be filled. They had found Mr O'Donoghue's work extremely satisfactory and had asked him to be retained for some time to come.