Under the National Archives Act, 1986, all records of Government Departments, including the courts and a range of other bodies, must be preserved and transferred to the National Archives when they are thirty years old, unless their disposal has been specifically authorised by the Director.
Thousands of official documents are transferred annually to the National Archives by Government Departments and archives of the following Departments and State agencies are available for consultation by members of the public in our Reading Room. Departmental titles which are hyperlinked indicate an accompanying finding aid database or .pdf list which can be searched online – current 2010 Departmental titles apply.
- Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Department of
- Attorney General, Office of the
- Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Department of
- Comptroller and Auditor General, Office of the
- Education and Science, Department of
- Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Department of
- Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Department of the
- Fair Trade Commission
- Finance, Department of
- Foreign Affairs, Department of
(Also includes the Secretary's Papers) - Government Information Service
- Health and Children, Department of (.pdf files only)
- Justice and Law Reform, Department of
- Labour Court
- National Archives
- Patents Office
- President, Office of the Secretary to the
- Registry of Friendly Societies
- Social and Family Affairs, Department of
- Taoiseach, Department of the
(Also includes the papers of Jack Lynch, Taoiseach during the years 1966–1973 and 1977–1979) - Transport, Department of
- Tourism, Culture and Sport, Department of
- Valuation Office and Boundary Survey