Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputies Varadkar, Penrose, Finian McGrath, Terence Flanagan and Dooley for their positive contributions and support for this legislation. I concur with their comments on the social importance of libraries to urban and rural communities.

A number of questions were raised by Deputies during their contributions. These questions are such that there is no need for a Committee Stage, but we will have to have it anyhow. Deputy Varadkar's first question related to the annual cost to the Exchequer of the proposed scheme. The set-up cost is estimated to be €911,294 and the annual cost is expected to be €1,180,403, of which it is estimated that approximately €846,000 will go to authors.

I was asked whether specific provision would be made from public funds. The question of appropriate provision will be raised in the context of the public service Estimates for 2008 and a commitment was made to fund the scheme from the Exchequer.

I was asked how much each author would receive per book lent. The total is estimated to amount to €846,000 and the estimate per book is expected to be approximately 15 cent per loan. This will apply to 42% of all loans and is based on the UK experience. In the United Kingdom, approximately 5p or 6p is paid per loan and there is a ceiling of £6,600 per author. All the regulations in the Irish system will be determined by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

Deputy Varadkar also questioned what will happen where there is a library on a school campus. Trinity College serves as an example in this regard and it will continue to be exempt from the provisions on public lending as it comes under the definition of an educational establishment. This is also the case for primary and secondary schools. In respect of Deputy Penrose's question about the operation of the system, an advisory committee will be established which will advise on policy and the operation of the system. The make-up of the committee will include authors, editors and illustrators so it will embrace people from a wide range of sectors.

The proposed scheme is modelled on the well established scheme in the UK. Authors will be required to register their personal details, such as name and address, and other details such as the title and date of publication of each book for which they wish to claim public lending rights. The amount of money to be paid to each registered author will be calculated by multiplying the rate per loan by the number of loans. A minimum and a maximum payment will be set. An Chomhairle Leabharlanna has negotiated with the registrar of the public lending rights office in the UK for the use of its computer software, which will save on development time and money.

A question was raised about how many authors would be likely to benefit. It is difficult to estimate the number of authors who will register for the Irish scheme but there is no reason to think that the authors who have already registered in the UK will not do so in Ireland. The UK system has approximately 33,000 living authors registered and we can expect a significant number of these authors to register in Ireland.

There will also be authors in Ireland who are not already registered in the UK. Each year, the Public Lending Rights office registers on average 1,300 new authors, with 4,000 titles and 11,000 titles from previously registered authors. It is estimated that the Irish figures may follow this pattern.

Deputy Penrose also raised the question of the legal position between the creation of an exclusive right at the point of enactment of this Bill and the creation of the public lending remuneration scheme. It is the case that upon enactment, the exclusive right will be created which authors can exercise to prohibit the lending of their books in libraries. However, we are legally advised that it is essential to facilitate the withdrawal by the European Commission of Article 228 proceedings pending against the State that this exclusive right is introduced as soon as possible. It would, of course, be ideal if the scheme of remuneration of authors could be in place at the time of the enactment of the Bill but this is not realistic. While our colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government are making significant progress in advancing arrangements for the scheme, it is not likely to be set up until 2008.

Deputy Penrose also raised the question of the collective citation. On Committee Stage in the Seanad, I accepted a Labour Party amendment regarding the collective citation.

Deputy Finian McGrath raised a question about the development of the public library system. This system continues to make a substantial contribution to furthering the national development plan objective of establishing an inclusive society in which all citizens can participate fully in the social and economic life of the country and to furthering the objectives set out in the Government's action plan on the information society. There has also been a focus on serving multicultural communities and a report on a research project on this has recently been published. New innovative ways of developing the library service are being explored, with a move away from stand-alone libraries towards more integrated library projects as part of one-stop-shop civic centres and arts and cultural centres.

Mention was made of tardiness in bringing the legislation forward. The existing Bill of 2000 was drafted under the legal advice available to the Government at that time. It is only since the European Court of Justice decision in January that we are aware that this transposition was incorrect. The Bill was drafted prior to the general election and would have been enacted prior to that if we did not go ahead and put ourselves to the trouble of getting re-elected.

Deputy Terence Flanagan and other speakers raised a question about DVDs. DVDs and so on will not be brought into the public lending scheme as this point, although the legislation allows them to be brought in at some future point. Deputy Terence Flanagan specifically asked about the legality of what is happening with regard to the pirating of DVDs and CDs. I acknowledge that there is a serious problem in that area but legal action is being taken against DVD pirates, with hefty fines being imposed on offenders. In August 2007, the first jailing of a DVD pirate, who received six months' imprisonment in the District Court, took place. This has been hailed by representatives of the recorded music industry as a powerful deterrent in the fight against piracy.

I hope I have answered most of the questions raised and we will discuss on Committee Stage any other views, queries or suggestions of Members. I again thank all the Deputies for their positive contributions.

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