asked the Minister for Finance if export licences under the Documents and Pictures (Regulation of Export) Act were delivered at the time of export to the proper officer of customs and excise when the books from the King's Inns Library were exported.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Book Exports.
48.
The answer is in the negative.
The Documents and Pictures (Regulation of Export) Act, 1945, does not apply to a document over 100 years old which is wholly in print. It was only in the case of a limited number of books with manuscript annotations that the need for export licences arose. The standing instructions issued to customs staff provide for only a selective examination of books to enforce export controls, and customs officers would have difficulty in coming upon manuscript annotations in a small number of cases from among what is understood to have been many hundreds of volumes.
Can the Minister say why books which are less than 100 years old are subject to the Act while ones which are more than 100 years old and which are presumably more valuable are not subject to the Act?
I could not tell the Deputy why that is so.
Has the Minister considered an amendment of that Act?
It is not my function. This relates to the Minister for Education and my function relates only to customs.