David Norris (Independent)

January will mark the beginning of an important year and a milestone in literary scholarship. The works of James Joyce will partially come out of copyright. They first came out of copyright in 1991 and they were retrospectively reinserted into copyright some years later as a result of harmonisation measures by the EU. I warned the Government and specifically the Minister responsible that this would happen if he did not seek a derogation, as other countries had done for writers in their countries. This was not done here and that was an oversight when the intellectual copyright legislation was introduced. It is understandable but it is regrettable and it caused major complications. There is a significant deposit of materials, including manuscripts and ephemera, in the National Library, next door to this Chamber. The situation regarding copyright is not entirely clear. Every single international leading scholar in the world of Joyce has written to the library and to the Minister asking for clarification. This will be a big story nationally and internationally and I am concerned that the fall-out from it may be negative for this country, the Department and the National Library, for which I have great respect, if clarification is not given. There will be international conferences, including a major one here, and the question of copyright will be the subject. Will the Leader please contact the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the National library and ask for clarification? Every single international Joyce scholar has put their names to letters seeking clarification and they have not received answers.