Vol. 512 No. 7
88 Mr. Stanton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position of the Government on artists' resale rights in any negotiations or discussions at internal market council level in the EU; the policy in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27317/99]
The Deputy will appreciate that I am not in a position to comment in detail on the substance of discussions on a draft directive at internal market council. In general, however, the current Government has maintained the line taken in negotiations on this matter by its predecessor. This is that Ireland does not favour the adoption of an artists' resale right directive because such a measure would, in the main, assist relatively prosperous artists with strong secondary markets in their works rather than those in most need of assistance. Also, in the context of the small Irish art market in particular, such a measure would be unlikely to generate revenue proportionate to collection costs, or to convey financial benefit on artists sufficient to compensate for the damage that could be caused to the professional art trade, the continued health of which is surely in the interest of artists as well as art market professionals.
