Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this new legislation, which is welcome. It is only fair that we should always protect and defend our writers, authors, musicians and artists. Ireland was once known as the land of saints and scholars but, sadly, that has radically changed on many issues. We need to refocus our vision of society and the direction we are headed as a country. Part of this debate centres on how our authors are treated and the difficulties they face in the modern, changing world. The legislation is an important element in assisting them going forward.

The purpose of the Bill is to introduce a public lending right that will provide authors initially with an exclusive right with regard to the lending of their works in public libraries, which can be replaced by the right to remuneration when the public lending remuneration scheme is in place. The Bill contains 13 sections and it is not contentious. It was well received on Second Stage in the Seanad, which is welcome. The legislation will regularise Ireland's position in providing recognition for authors and royalty payments for the lending of their books, which the State is duty bound to recognise under EU law, which is positive.

However, the Government always has to react to EU law. Are we not confident, as a nation, to protect and assist our authors and artists without having to be told to do so by the Union? This is a constant issue in protecting the rights of our people, which should happen regardless. The rights of writers or any other members in society should always be a matter of fact. As legislators, we should lead on this issue and we should not always have to be directed by the Union to protect specific sectors and citizens in society. It is important to support and develop the skills of artists, particularly those who do not earn significant money. However, those who do have a responsibility to the country and their audience to stay in the country and pay taxes like the rest of us. Jumping ship to base oneself in another country to make more money smacks of greed and should be challenged by Members. I raise this because many writers and artists, particularly those earning less than €50,000 per annum support that position. It is important to recognise the vast majority do not make a great deal of money but they make a massive contribution to the country. We only hear of those who win international competitions now and again but many creative people living on the north side of Dublin make a significant contribution to the discipline of writing.

Public libraries provide great examples of their use and good practice. Over the past 20 years I have used their services on literacy projects in the arts and music for disadvantaged pupils. Poor children have an early opportunity to be exposed to the wonders of books and the arts. These services need to be promoted to help the development of young writers and so on and libraries play a significant part. Young children use libraries to access books, the arts and information technology to develop their skills and this needs to be defended and protected.

More creativity is needed, particularly in disadvantaged areas where many people are excluded from the arts. Many disadvantaged schools have made a contribution to the development of writing, poetry, music and other artistic disciplines and they do excellent work with children in these areas. There is massive potential to develop their literary skills. If children with reading difficulties are encouraged to participate in the arts at a young age, it could have a massive impact on their lives. Reading poetry in front of other children helps them to develop their skills and that is important to literacy projects. Many of them said in September that they could not read or did not like reading but, at the same time, they were exposed to positive development in their local libraries and highlighting these services is crucial. These children were given an opportunity to change their lives and libraries must be supported on this issue.

Section 5 amends section 40 of the principal Act and provides for an exclusive lending right to be exercised by the author. Section 6 amends section 42 of the principal Act to set out that an exclusive lending right applies in respect of the public lending of copyright works unless and until a remuneration scheme is otherwise in place. Section 7 enables the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to make regulations to establish a public lending remuneration scheme. The scheme will be publicly funded out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas. The provision sets out, although not exhaustively, the criteria to be covered in regulations, for example, the manner of participating in the scheme, rates of remuneration, minimum and maximum amounts payable to a participating author etc.

I welcome the funding of the public lending scheme by the Exchequer and it will involve funding both the administration of the scheme through An Chomhairle Leabharlanna and making annual payments to authors in respect of the lending of their works. The initial cost will be approximately €600,000. It is anticipated that this figure will include accommodation and refurbishment costs for An Chomhairle Leabharlanna and IT software costs. It is also anticipated that ongoing annual costs will be incurred in the region of €1.1 million to cover both the administration of the scheme and the payments to authors. Looking at the figures of €600,000 and €1.1 million, one is conscious that this is a major investment and we must be very aware of public funds. Nonetheless, I ask whether sufficient money is available for this section and if the €1.1 million will be enough to resource that package. It is important, as I said, to focus on the responsibilities of the broader vision on this issue. We must protect our writers and ensure they are looked after. We also have to protect those who work and develop the services because of the many developments that have taken place over a number of years.

I have mentioned the good practices in some of our local libraries such as Coolock, for example, and Raheny which have made a massive contribution towards improving literacy levels and skills among young people on the north side of Dublin. However, we must accept the reality that many public libraries are an enormous local resource for people and schools that do not necessarily have many resources at times. The sad reality is that without the involvement of these schools with their local libraries many children would not have the opportunity of using these services. I raise this on the legislation because these matters are all indirectly connected. It is not acceptable to have young people who do not get the same opportunity as middle class children, perhaps, when it comes to writing, the arts, music and the literacy base that many in their age groups have. The key is to ensure this country, once known as the island of saints and scholars, develops a respect for its writers and authors and also transforms the level of interest in this area. There are children and young people who are very interested in the arts and writing and we must ensure their potential is developed. As I mentioned there are examples of good practice where some progressive schools with high literacy problems, particularly in poor areas, invite writers and poets in and use their skills to develop respect for literature among children as well as reading skills. This is something all schools should learn from as well as all politicians including Members of the Oireachtas.

I welcome the broad thrust of the Bill as a positive development in the way we treat writers and authors in this country. There are some very progressive sections in the legislation. The only concern I have relates to the resourcing of €1.1 million. I hope that money is adequate, but it is important to take the broader vision of respecting the work of our writers and artists. Only a few of them make it onto the international stage but the vast majority make massive contributions in their own communities. We have many good authors on the north side of Dublin who make enormous contributions to their local communities in Coolock, Darndale, Marino and such places. They might not all necessarily make the headlines, but their contributions are worthy. They can be involved in local history projects etc. and deserve to be included in this debate. I welcome and support the legislation.

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