Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)

That is a two-way street, because there may very well be items in Irish institutions, which is something that is also of concern to me, that predate the foundation of the State or may have found their way into State collections by way of benefactors. We have to be conscious of that as well. In my time, for instance, as Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, I was very keen to make sure that any of the public buildings under the State's care and managed by the Office of Public Works did not in any way have artistic representation or any sort of presentations that were connected directly to slavery or the trade in human beings. The OPW conducted a very comprehensive body of work at the time and it was able to conclude that none of the State's buildings were in any way involved or had an attachment in any way, for want of a better word, to the remembrance and celebration in some cases, warped and all as that may be, of the trade in human beings.

On the point Deputy McGuinness makes, it is a two-way street and we have to be conscious of what potentially is within our own stores as well. Obviously, the Heritage Council has a role in this and I will engage with it further.

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