National Cultural Institutions Act 1997

(2) Whenever the owner of a cultural object to which this Part applies makes a request referred to in subsection (1), the Minister shall notify the owner within 2 weeks from the date of the request that he or she will decide within 6 weeks from the date of such request whether he or she proposes to acquire the object and the owner shall not be entitled to the return of the object during the said period of 6 weeks and upon the expiration of that period the Minister shall cause the object to be returned to the owner unless he or she proposes to acquire the object under this section and has notified him or her accordingly before such expiration.

(3) Where the Minister acquires a cultural object to which this Part applies by agreement with the owner thereof, the object shall thereupon vest in the Minister for the benefit of the State.

(4) The price or compensation payable on the acquisition of a cultural object to which this Part applies shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

54 Notice of proposal to make vesting orders.

54.—(1) Where the Minister proposes to make a vesting order, the Minister shall—

(a) publish in Iris Oifigiúil and in such newspapers as the Minister thinks fit notice of the proposal, indicating that any person who claims to be entitled to compensation may submit his or her claim to the Minister and indicating the time within which a claim aforesaid may be submitted to the Minister, and

(b) give a copy of the notice referred to in paragraph (a) to every owner of a cultural object to be acquired by the vesting order.

(2) A notice under subsection (1) may be given to the person concerned—

(a) by delivering it to him or her,

(b) by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides, or

(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter addressed to the person at the address at which he or she ordinarily resides or, in the case of a company (within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1963) at its registered office or, in the case of any other body, at its principal office or place of business.

55 Form and operation of vesting orders.

55.—A vesting order shall be in the prescribed form and shall be expressed and shall operate to vest the cultural object to which it relates in the Minister free from encumbrances and all rights, titles and interests of any kind over or in respect of the object on a specified date not earlier than 21 days after the making of the order.

56 Compensation in respect of vesting orders.

56.—Whenever the Minister makes a vesting order, he or she shall be liable to pay compensation in accordance with the provisions of this Part in respect of the cultural object acquired by the order.

57 Applications for compensation in respect of vesting orders.

57.—(1) Any person claiming to be the owner of a cultural object acquired by a vesting order may apply to the Minister for compensation in respect of the object.

(2) An application for compensation under this section shall be made in such form as may be prescribed or in a form to the like effect.

(3) An application for compensation under this section shall be made to the Minister within 3 months (or such longer period, not exceeding 6 months, as the Minister may in any particular case allow) from the date upon which the notice of the proposal to acquire the cultural object the subject of the application was published in Iris Oifigiúil pursuant to this section.

58 Duty of Minister in respect of applications under section 57.

58.—(1) The Minister shall, within 3 months from the date of the receipt of an application for compensation under this Part duly made to him or her, consider the application and, as he or she thinks fit, either—

(a) make an offer in writing to the applicant in respect of a specified sum of compensation under this section in respect of the cultural object to which the application relates, or

(b) inform the applicant in writing that he or she does not intend to make to the applicant any such offer including his or her reasons therefor.

(2) Where an applicant accepts an offer of compensation made under subsection (1), he or she shall be estopped from making any further claim for compensation under this Part.

59 Applications to High Court for compensation under this Part.

59.—(1) A person who has applied to the Minister under the foregoing provisions of this Part for compensation in respect of a cultural object acquired by a vesting order and has either refused an offer of compensation made to him or her by the Minister in respect of the aforesaid object or has been informed by the Minister that he or she does not intend to make any such offer, may apply to the High Court in a summary manner for compensation under this section in respect of the object.

(2) An application under subsection (1) shall be made not later than 3 months after whichever of the following dates is applicable, that is to say—

(a) the date on which the applicant refused the offer by the Minister of a specified sum of compensation, or

(b) the date on which the applicant was informed by the Minister that he or she did not intend to make any such offer.

(3) On application to it under subsection (1), the High Court, shall, if it is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to compensation under this section—

(a) award to the applicant compensation under this section,

(b) fix the amount of such compensation in accordance with this section, and

(c) order that the compensation so awarded and fixed shall be paid to the applicant by the Minister.

(4) In assessing the compensation payable to a person under this section, the High Court shall have regard to the fact that the Minister may refuse to grant a licence to a person in respect of the cultural object concerned.

(5) An order under subsection (3) may contain such consequential or supplementary provisions as the High Court considers appropriate.

(6) The High Court may make such order (if any) as it considers just for the payment of all or part of any costs incurred by a person in respect of an application for compensation under this section.

(7) The High Court shall, on application to it in that behalf by the Minister within one month of the making of an order under subsection (3), by order discharge the order, direct the return of the cultural object to the applicant concerned, annul the vesting order made by the Minister and, if it so thinks fit, award such compensation as it considers appropriate in respect of any loss incurred by the applicant by virtue of the retention by the institution of the object after the request of the applicant for its return.

PART VI The National Gallery of Ireland

60 Functions of National Gallery.

60.—(1) It shall be a function of the Governors and Guardians—

(a) to increase and diffuse in or outside the State knowledge of the visual arts by whatever means they consider appropriate,

(b) to dispose of land or an interest in land subject to the consent of the Minister, and to dispose of any other property (other than cultural objects in the collection of the National Gallery), and

(c) to engage in such activities for the purpose of raising funds for the purposes of the National Gallery as they think appropriate.

(2) The functions aforesaid are in addition to and not in substitution for any functions conferred on the Governors and Guardians by the National Gallery of Ireland Acts, 1854 to 1963.

61 Application of sections 14, 26, 34, 35, 36 and 41 to National Gallery.

61.—(1) Sections 26, 34, 35, 36 and 41 shall apply in relation to the National Gallery as they apply in relation to a Board with the modification that the references to a Board shall be construed as references to the Governors and Guardians and with any other necessary modifications.

(2) Section 14 shall apply in relation to the National Gallery as it applies in relation to a Board with the modification that the references to a Board shall be construed as references to the Governors and Guardians and the references to the Museum or Library shall be construed as references to the National Gallery and with any other necessary modifications.

PART VII Miscellaneous

62 Grant of licence for sale of intoxicating liquor.

62.—(1) Subject to subsection (5), the Minister may, if he or she thinks it proper that an on-licence should be granted to a person or persons, being the Board or the Governors and Guardians or the board of any institution specified in the Second Schedule in respect of any particular part of premises occupied by the person or persons and vested in the Commissioners or the Minister, as the case may be, issue to the person or persons, a certificate approving of the grant of the licence.

(2) The Revenue Commissioners shall grant the licence on the presentation of the certificate to them.

(3) The Minister, if he or she so thinks proper, may from time to time issue to the person or persons referred to in subsection (1), a certificate approving of the renewal of the licence.

(4) (a) The Minister, if he or she thinks it proper that the licence should be transferred or extended to another part of the premises occupied by a person or persons referred to in subsection (1) and vested in the Commissioners or should cease to apply to any part of the premises aforesaid, may issue to the person or persons aforesaid a certificate approving of the alterations.

(b) Whenever such a certificate is presented to the Revenue Commissioners, they shall amend the licence accordingly.

(5) The Minister shall not issue a certificate under this section in respect of the whole or any part of a premises unless the premises are specified in column (2) of the Second Schedule.

(6) Notwithstanding section 2 (as amended by section 25 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1988, and section 2 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1995) of the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1927, it shall be lawful for any person to sell or expose for sale any intoxicating liquor on any premises or any part of premises to which an on-licence granted under this section relates, or to open or keep open such premises for the sale of intoxicating liquor, or to permit any intoxicating liquor to be consumed on such premises at any time during which members of the public are permitted to enter and remain on such premises.

(7) In this section “on-licence” has the meaning assigned to it by the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1927.

63 Provisions relating to Marsh's Library.

63.—(1) Notwithstanding section 2 of the Act of 1707, the Minister may, with the consent of the Governors and Guardians of Marsh's Library, appoint two persons to be Governors and Guardians of Marsh's Library in addition to the persons appointed as such Governors and Guardians by virtue of that section.

(2) The provisions of section 20 (other than subsection (4)) shall apply, with any necessary modifications, to a Governor and Guardian appointed under this section as they apply to the members referred to in that section.

(3) In this section “the Act of 1707” means The Act of the Irish Parliament 6 Anne c.19 (which Act provided inter alia for the establishment of the Library now known as Marsh's Library).

64 Exemption from charge of rates on certain property.

64.—Property occupied, on or after the commencement of this section, by—

(a) the Museum,

(b) the Library,

(c) the National Gallery,

(d) the Irish Museum of Modern Art Company,

(e) the Arts Council,

(f) the Heritage Council,

(g) the National Concert Hall Company,

(h) the Chester Beatty Library or

(i) the National Theatre Society Limited,

shall be exempt from the rate chargeable by a local authority.

65 Delivery of certain material to Library.

65.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the publisher of any material to which this section applies shall, within one month or such longer period as the Board of the Library may in any particular case allow after its publication, deliver at his or her own expense, a copy of the material—

(a) to the Board of the Library, or

(b) if the Library establishment day falls after the expiration of the period aforesaid, to the Minister,

and the Board or the Minister, as the case may be, shall, as soon as may be after such delivery, give a written receipt to the publisher for material so delivered.

(2) The publisher of material to which this section applies that relates substantially or primarily to Ireland shall, if written demand for any such material is made by the Board of the Library not later than 12 months after its publication, deliver a copy of the material to the board within one month after receipt of the demand or, if the demand was made before its publication, within one month or such longer period as the Board may in any particular case allow after its publication.

(3) The Board, with the consent of the Minister, or, before the Library establishment day, the Minister, may make such regulations as the Board or the Minister, as the case may be, considers appropriate in relation to the quality and format of material to which this section applies in cases where the copies of such material are not of uniform quality or can be published in different formats.

(4) In this section—

“engraving” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Copyright Act, 1963;

“material to which this section applies” means material that is of such class as may be specified in regulations made by the Board of the Library with the consent of the Minister or, before the Library establishment day, by the Minister and in this definition “material” includes any engraving, photograph, play script, cinematograph film, microfilm, video recording, sound recording, record, diskette, magnetic tape, compact disc, or other thing which has been published and on or in which information is written, recorded, stored or reproduced but does not include local records or local archives within the meaning, in each case, of section 65 of the Local Government Act, 1994, or books within the meaning of section 56 of the Copyright Act, 1963;

“publisher” other than in subsection (2) means—

(a) in relation to material to which this section applies, a person resident in the State who publishes or causes to be published the material to the public or a section of the public, and

(b) in relation to material to which this section applies that relates substantially or primarily to Ireland, a person who distributes but does not publish or cause to be published the material in the State to the public or a section of the public,

and in subsection (2) has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph (b).

(5) A publisher who contravenes this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 and the value of the library material and the fine shall be paid to the Board.

(6) The Minister may by order apply this section, with such modifications and adaptations as he or she considers necessary, to one or more of the institutions or bodies referred to in section 56 of the Copyright Act, 1963.

66 Amendment of section 56 of Copyright Act, 1963.

66.—(1) Section 56 of the Copyright Act, 1963, is hereby amended by—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by the substitution of “any book published” for “any book first published in the State”,

(ii) by the substitution of “Board of the National Library of Ireland” for “trustees of the National Library of Ireland” in each place where it occurs, and

(iii) by the substitution of “Board of the British Library” for “trustees of the British Museum” in each place where it occurs,

(b) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “any book published” for “any book first published in the State”,

(c) in subsection (3)—

(i) by the substitution of “Board of the National Library” for “trustees of the National Library of Ireland”, and

(ii) by the substitution of “Board of the British Library” for “trustees of the British Museum”, and

(d) in subsection (5), by the substitution of “£500” for “twenty pounds”.

(2) The said section 56 shall be construed as if the references to a publisher were references to a publisher within the meaning of the definition of “publisher” in section 65(4) modified so that references in that definition to material to which that section applies are construed as references to a book.

(3) Subsection (1) of the aforesaid section 56, in so far as it relates to the publisher (within the meaning of paragraph (b) of the definition of “publisher” in section 65), shall apply only to the Library and to a book that relates substantially or primarily to Ireland and then only if written demand for a copy thereof is made in accordance with subsection (2) of section 65 by the Board of the Library.

67 Advice to Heritage Council.

67.—The Minister may direct a Board, the Director of the National Archives or the Governors and Guardians from time to time as occasion requires to make available to the Heritage Council such advice as it may require to assist it in the performance of its functions.

68 Amendment of National Monuments Acts, 1930 to 1994.

68.—(1) The reference in section 25(2) of the Act of 1930, to the Minister for Education shall be construed as a reference to the Board of the Museum.

(2) The Act of 1994 is hereby amended as follows:

(a) by the substitution of the following section for section 3:

“Disposal of archaeological objects by State.

3.—(a) Subject to the provisions of this section, where, after the commencement of this section, an archaeological object becomes the property of the State, the Director may, at his or her discretion, if he or she is of opinion that the object is not of sufficient archaeological or historical interest to justify its retention by the State, dispose of the object by whatever means he or she thinks fit.

(b) Where an archaeological object becomes the property of the State and the Director is of opinion that the object is predominantly more of local rather than national interest, the Director may place the object in the care of a designated museum.

(c) An archaeological object that has been placed in the care of a designated museum under paragraph (b) shall not be disposed of other than by means of its transfer into the care of another designated museum or the National Museum of Ireland.

(d) Any dispute between a designated museum and the Director as to where an archaeological object should be kept shall be referred to the Minister and he or she shall, after consultation with the designated museums, decide which museum should keep the object and the decision of the Minister shall be final and shall be carried into effect.

(e) The Minister may make regulations in relation to the care and management of archaeological objects kept in designated museums pursuant to this section.

(f) The Director may, with the consent of the Minister, designate museums (referred to in this section as ‘designated museums’) in the ownership and control of local authorities for the purposes of this section.

(g) The Director shall, if so required by the Minister, revoke a designation under paragraph (f).

(h) Where a designation is revoked under paragraph (g), any archaeological object in the care of the museum concerned on the date of such revocation shall be transferred, as soon as may be, to the National Museum of Ireland or such designated museum as the Minister may direct.”

and

(b) in section 6—

(i) by the substitution in subsection (1) of “The Director or any other person authorised by the Board of the Museum” for “The Director”, and

(ii) by the substitution in subsection (2) of “the Minister or, whenever so requested by the Minister, the Board of the Museum” for “the Minister”.

69 Care of archaeological objects.

69.—(1) Where a dispute arises between the Museum and a public authority or a local authority, as the case may be, concerning the care, control and management of an archaeological object to which this section applies, the matter shall be determined by the Minister after consultation with the Heritage Council whose decision in relation thereto shall be binding on the parties concerned.

(2) This section applies to an archaeological object that—

(a) is in the ownership of the State,

(b) is in the care of a public or local authority, as the case may be, before the commencement of the Act of 1994, and

(c) has not at any time been in the care of the Museum.

70 Powers of Commissioners in relation to certain premises.

70.—(1) In this section—

“improvement”, in relation to the premises, includes structural or other alterations or additions to the premises, the installation on the premises of any plant, machinery or equipment and the construction of any building (or other structure) on the premises;

“premises” means, in relation to the Museum, any building or part of a building or other land occupied by the Museum and, in relation to the Library, means any building or part of a building or other land occupied by the Library.

(2) The Commissioners shall carry out, or cause to be carried out on their behalf, under the general superintendence of the Minister, and upon and subject to such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by the Commissioners and the Museum or the Library, as the case may be, such work as, in the opinion of the Commissioners, is necessary or expedient for the maintenance, upkeep, repair, renovation and improvement of the premises.

FIRST SCHEDULE Authorised Repository of a Board

Name of Board	Premises
(1)	(2)
Board of the National Library of Ireland	The premises known as the National Library building Kildare Street, Dublin, erected by the Commissioners, pursuant to the provisions of the Dublin Science and Art Museum Act, 1877.
Board of the National Museum of Ireland	The premises known as the Science and Art Museum building Kildare Street, Dublin, erected by the Commissioners, pursuant to the provisions of the Dublin Science and Art Museum Act, 1877 and the premises known as the Natural History Museum building, Merrion Street, Dublin, erected pursuant to the provisions of the National Gallery Act, 1854.

SECOND SCHEDULE Authorised Area of an Institution

Name of Institution	Premises
(1)	(2)
Chester Beatty Library	The premises known as the Clock Tower building and those parts of other buildings at Dublin Castle, Dublin, occupied by the Chester Beatty Library.
Crawford Gallery	Those parts of Cork Vocational Education Committee premises at Emmett Place, Cork, occupied by the Crawford Gallery.
Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art	Those parts of the premises known as Charlemont House, Parnell Square, Dublin, occupied by the Hugh Lane Gallery.
Irish Museum of Modern Art Company	Those parts of the premises known as the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin, occupied by the Irish Museum of Modern Art Company.
National Museum of Ireland	The premises known as the Science and Art Museum building on Kildare Street, Dublin, erected by the Commissioners pursuant to the provisions of the Dublin Science and Art Museum Act, 1877, and the premises known as Collins Barracks, Dublin.
National Library of Ireland	The premises known as the National Library building on Kildare Street, Dublin, erected by the Commissioners, pursuant to the provisions of the Dublin Science and Art Museum Act, 1877.
National Gallery of Ireland	The premises known as the National Gallery building erected for use by the Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery by virtue of the National Gallery (Dublin) Act, 1865 and the building known as “the North Wing”, National Gallery, Merrion Square, Dublin, as vested in the Commissioners.
Hunt Museum, Limerick	The premises known as the Custom House, Limerick, and extension thereto, as vested in the Commissioners, as occupied by the Hunt Museum.
Royal Irish Academy	19 Dawson Street, Dublin.

THIRD SCHEDULE Objects to which Section 49(1)(f) relates

Each of the following shall be decorative art objects for the purposes of section 49:

(1) toys, games,

(2) glassware,

(3) articles of goldsmiths’ or silversmiths’ wares,

(4) furniture,

(5) optical, photographic or cinematographic apparatus,

(6) musical instruments,

(7) clocks and watches and parts thereof,

(8) articles of wood,

(9) pottery (including ceramics),

(10) tapestries,

(11) carpets,

(12) wallpaper,

(13) arms,

(14) costumes,

(15) antique objects.