Vol. 432 No. 5
20 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice whether she intends to introduce legislation to render it illegal to use public funds to grant-aid books and publications which are offensive; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
The general question of imposing controls on grant aiding for books or publications is not one for my Department. In my opinion it is a matter for each Government Department or public body concerned to decide whether or not any particular publication should be grant aided.
I should mention of course that in so far as any book or publication might be regarded as containing material of an indecent or obscene nature or that it promotes racial hatred, redress may be sought through the Censorship of Publications Acts, 1929 to 1967 or the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act, 1989, respectively.
