Vol. 444 No. 5
23 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht whether he has satisfied himself that there are in place sufficient legal and financial instruments to prevent the sale and removal out of the country of items of historical, archaeological or cultural significance to the nation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I am satisfied that the legislative regime currently in place plus the enactment of the National Monuments (Amendment) Bill, 1994 will constitute sufficient deterrent to the unlawful removal of such items from the State.
Under the National Monuments Acts the sale of archaeological objects in private ownership within the State is permitted but the provisions now being enacted will require such transactions to be notified to the Director of the National Museum. The provisions in the National Monuments (Amendment) Bill, 1994, which was passed by the Dáil on 22 June 1994 will establish comprehensive controls relating to the possession and disposal of archaeological objects.
Under this Bill, the State will be expressly established as the owner of all objects found after the Bill's enactment and there are heavy penalties prescribed for failure to report properly such finds to the Director of the Museum. As an encouragement to people to report such finds, the Director is empowered to give rewards, on a discretionary basis, where, in his/her opinion, the finder has acted in a responsible fashion. I am satisfied that these provisions strike the correct balance between deterrence and encouragement in the protection of our heritage as manifested in archaeological objects.
Last week I signed the European Communities (Return of Cultural Objects) Regulations, 1994 in implementation of Council Directive (93/7/EC) of 15 March 1993 establishing procedures to facilitate the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a member state.
