PART IV

Provisions relating to Heritage Collections

47. —(1) Without prejudice to any provisions contained in any bequest or agreement, a Board, the Governors and Guardians, the Director of the National Archives (with the consent of the National Archives Advisory Council) or any other cultural institution designated by order by the Minister, may lend to, transfer, borrow from, or exchange with any other institution referred to in this subsection or standing designated for the time being under subsection (3) any cultural objects in the collection of the institution on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the institutions concerned.

(2) Any dispute between one or more of the institutions referred to in subsection (1) or any other cultural institution designated by order by the Minister as to which of them should acquire or attempt to acquire a cultural object, shall be referred to the Minister and he or she shall, after consultation with all of the aforesaid institutions, decide which institution should acquire or attempt to acquire the object and the decision of the Minister shall be binding on all of the aforesaid institutions.

(3) The Minister may by order designate an institution, with the consent of the institution, for the purposes of subsection (1) or subsection (2).

(4) The Minister may by order revoke or amend an order under this section (including an order under this subsection).

48. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Minister shall, as soon as may be after the commencement of this Part, establish and maintain a register of cultural objects of a class or classes denoted in such manner (including by reference to monetary value) as may be determined by the Minister whose export from the State would constitute a serious loss to the heritage of Ireland (in this Act referred to as “the register”).

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Minister may establish and maintain a record of cultural objects of a class or classes denoted in such manner (including by reference to monetary value) as may be determined by the Minister whose export from the State has constituted a serious loss to the heritage of Ireland (in this section referred to as “the record”).

(3) Before making an entry in the register or the record, the Minister may direct a Board, the Irish Manuscripts Commission or the Governors and Guardians to furnish him or her with a list of cultural objects belonging to a particular class or classes as may be specified by the Minister in the direction which, in the opinion of the Board or the Governors and Guardians, as the case may be, are outstanding examples of objects belonging to that class and whose export from the State would constitute a serious loss to the heritage of Ireland.

(4) The Minister may include in a direction under subsection (3) a requirement that a person or persons to whom it is given shall have regard to such considerations or matters as are specified in the direction and the person or persons shall comply with such a requirement.

(5) In preparing a list referred to in subsection (3), a Board, the Irish Manuscripts Commission or the Governors and Guardians, as the case may be, shall consult with such other (if any) persons having a special knowledge of, or interest in, the matter as it considers appropriate to be consulted and shall have regard to any such consultations.

(6) (a) A Board, the Irish Manuscripts Commission or the Governors and Guardians may, at any time, make recommendations in writing to the Minister in relation to the inclusion of a cultural object or cultural objects in the register or the record maintained by the Minister and the Minister shall have regard to such recommendations.

(b) The Minister may, after consultation with the Heritage Council, enter the aforesaid object or objects, as the case may be, in the register or the record.

(7) The Minister may amend or, after consultation with the Heritage Council, delete an entry in the register or the record.

49. —(1) Each of the following shall be an article to which this Part applies—

(a) any document (other than a document wholly in print) which is not less than 70 years old of a value exceeding such an amount (if any) as may be specified by order made by the Minister,

(b) any painting (other than a painting in the ownership of the person who painted it) not less than 25 years old of a value exceeding such amount (if any) as may be specified by order made by the Minister which is painted entirely by hand on any medium and in any material and which either—

(i) originated in Ireland, or

(ii) has been in the State for not less than 25 years,

(c) any document declared by an order made by the Minister under subsection (2) to be an article to which this Part applies,

(d) any cultural object entered in the register,

(e) any archaeological object,

(f) any object specified in the Third Schedule which is made in Ireland, is not less than 70 years old and the value of which is not less than £35,000,

(g) any cultural object falling within a class of cultural objects designated by order by the Minister.

(2) The Minister may by order declare any document, which is in his or her opinion of national, historical, genealogical or literary interest, to be an article to which this Part applies.

(3) The Minister may by order declare any object, which is in his or her opinion an archaeological object, to be an article to which this Part applies.

(4) The Minister may by order declare that any document, painting, cultural object entered in the register, archaeological object, any cultural object falling within a class of cultural objects designated by order by the Minister under paragraph (g) of subsection (1) or object specified in the Third Schedule , of a class or classes denoted in such manner as may be determined by the Minister, shall be excluded from the operation of this Part and any object so declared to be excluded shall, so long as the order is in force, cease to be an article to which this Part applies.

(5) The Minister may by order vary—

(a) one or more of the ages standing specified for the time being in paragraph (a), (b) and (f) of subsection (1), or

(b) the amount standing specified for the time being in paragraph (f) of subsection (1),

and those paragraphs shall have effect in accordance with the provisions of any order under this subsection for the time being in force.

(6) The Minister may by order revoke or amend an order under this section (including an order under the subsection).

(7) It shall not be lawful for any person to export or attempt to export or sell for export any article to which this Part applies unless such person is the holder of a licence authorising the export of the article.

(8) A person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction—

(i) in case the offence relates to an article falling within paragraph (d) or (e) of subsection (1), to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both, and

(ii) in case the offence relates to any other article, to a fine not exceeding £1,500, and

(b) on conviction on indictment—

(i) in case the offence relates to an article falling within paragraph (d) or (e) of subsection (1), to a fine not exceeding £50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both, and

(ii) in case the offence relates to any other article, to a fine not exceeding £50,000.

(9) If a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (8) in relation to the export of an article to which this Part applies that—

(a) is a cultural object entered in the register and, prior to the date of conviction, had been in the care, control or under the management of an institution owned or funded wholly or substantially by the State or by any public or local authority, or

(b) is an archaeological object,

the court may order the object to be forfeited.

(10) A court shall not order an object to be forfeited under subsection (9) in a case where a person claiming to be the owner of it or otherwise interested in it applies to be heard by the court, unless an opportunity has been given to the person to show cause why the order should not be made.

(11) Where an object is ordered by a court to be forfeited under subsection (9), the object shall become and be the property of the Minister on and from the date of the order and the order shall operate to deprive the owner thereof of his or her rights in or to the object.

(12) An order under subsection (9) shall not take effect until the ordinary time for instituting an appeal against the order or the conviction concerned has expired or, where such an appeal is instituted, until it or any further appeal is finally decided or abandoned or the ordinary time for instituting any further appeal has expired.

(13) In proceedings for an offence under this section it shall not be necessary to negative by evidence the existence of any licence authorising the export of an article to which this Part applies and accordingly the onus of proving the issue of such a licence to the defendant shall be on the defendant.

(14) In a prosecution of a person under this section, it shall be a defence for the person to prove that he or she did not know, and had no reason to suspect that it was an article falling within paragraph (a), (b), (f) or (g) of subsection (1).

(15) In this section “document” includes “estate records, parish and school registers, burial and cemetery records and maps”.

50. —(1) (a) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Minister shall, on the application of a person in that behalf, grant to that person a licence authorising the person to export an article to which this Part applies (referred to in this Act as “a licence”).

(b) An application for a licence shall be in such form as may be prescribed or in a form to the like effect.

(2) Where an application is made to the Minister for a licence in respect of an article referred to in section 49 (1)(d)—

(a) in the case of an article that for an uninterrupted period of 5 years before the commencement of this section was in the care of an institution specified in the Second Schedule or in any other institution owned or funded wholly or substantially by the State or by any public or local authority, the Minister may, at his or her discretion, grant or refuse to grant the licence and any such licence may be subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Minister determines and specifies in the licence,

(b) in the case of a cultural object that comes into the care of an institution referred to in paragraph (a) after the commencement of this section and remains in such care for an uninterrupted period of 10 years, the Minister may, at his or her discretion, grant or refuse to grant the licence and any such licence may be subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Minister determines and specifies in the licence,

(c) in any other case, the Minister shall grant the licence and any such licence may be subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Minister determines and specifies in the licence including the condition that the object shall not be exported before the expiration of one year from the date of the application for the licence.

(3) Where an application is made to the Minister for a licence in respect of an article referred to in section 49 (1)(e), the Minister may, at his or her discretion, grant or refuse to grant the licence and any such licence may be subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Minister determines and specifies in the licence.

(4) A licence shall remain in force for such period as may be specified therein.

(5) (a) A person who holds a licence shall comply with the conditions of the licence.

(b) A person who contravenes paragraph (a) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500.

(6) Where an application is made to the Minister for a licence to export an article to which this Part applies, the Minister may request the applicant to afford the Minister such facilities as he or she may think necessary for the making within a reasonable time of copies of the article whether by photographic or other means, and in that case he or she shall not grant the licence unless the request has been complied with.

(7) Where the applicant for a licence in respect of an article to which this Part applies affords facilities for the making of copies of the article, whether by photographic or other means, the Minister may cause copies of the article to be made and may cause any copies so made to be used in any manner which he or she thinks proper.

(8) Where copyright subsists in an article referred to in subsection (6), the making of copies pursuant to that subsection shall not constitute an infringement of that copyright.

51. —(1) The Minister may by order delegate such one or more of his or her functions as he or she specifies in the order—

(a) under section 50 —

(i) in relation to museum heritage objects, to the Board of the Museum or the Heritage Council,

(ii) in relation to paintings, to the Governors and Guardians, the Heritage Council or the Board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art Company, and

(iii) in relation to documents, to the Board of the Library, the Heritage Council or the Director of the National Archives,

or such class or classes of any one or more of the foregoing as he or she may specify in the order,

(b) under section 4 (1), in relation to an offence or any class of offence under section 25 of the Act of 1930, and sections 49 and 65 , to a Board or (in relation to an offence under section 49 ) to the Governors and Guardians.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the delegation of a function under subsection (1):

(a) the function shall be performed by the person to whom it was delegated in his or her own name but subject to the general superintendence and control of the Minister;

(b) the Minister may amend or revoke an order made under this section;

(c) the delegation shall operate, while it is in force, to confer the function on and vest it in the person to whom it was delegated;

(d) the function shall, notwithstanding the delegation, continue to be vested in the Minister but shall be so vested concurrently with the person to whom it was delegated and so as to be capable of being performed by the Minister or the person;

(e) the delegation shall not remove or derogate from the responsibility of the Minister to Dáil Éireann or as a member of the Government for the performance of the function by the person.

(3) An order under this section may contain such ancillary or subsidiary provisions as the Minister considers necessary or expedient.