Vol. 441 No. 5
178 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the steps, if any, he will take to safeguard valuable historical documents dating from the mid-16 century which are currently stored at Westport House, County Mayo.
I refer the Deputy to my reply on a similar question on 12 April last.
As I understand the situation, the documents in question are at present of a collection held in private hands and I have no interventionist role to play in the matter. I would point out that the services of the relevant national cultural institutions under the aegis of my Department would, if required, be available to advise on the proper conservation of these documents.
If the documents were to be transferred from private to public ownership at any time, the relevant national cultural institutions would of course have a further role to play.
