Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Pre-existing internal safeguards within the museum control the approval of reward amounts to finders of archaeological objects. Rewards are proposed by a relevant curator and the archaeologist dealing with the acquisition of the object. The awards are then subject to approval by the keeper of Irish antiquities. For rewards valued above €10,000, the keeper must in turn seek approval from the head of collections or from the director of the museum. In each instance, a written justification of the amount of the finder’s reward must be presented and this is generally benchmarked relative to recent rewards for similar object types. The curator must consider other factors, including criteria specified in the National Monuments Acts, which are replicated under the Bill.

An analysis of recent data showed that 84% of rewards processed by the museum are less than €1,000, while 12% of awards fall between €1,000 and €25,000. Just 4% of awards are over €25,000. An ability to be responsive to members of the public regarding their cultural heritage is an important element of growing goodwill and engagement with local communities.

It is not the intention of the Bill to impose significant time delays on relatively minor awards. Therefore, this amendment proposes to increase, from €1,000 to €25,000, the discretion permitted to the board of the museum regarding the payment of rewards before the approval of the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media and the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform is required.

Over time, the baseline figure of €25,000 may need to be adjusted upwards and provision is made to permit the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to increase that amount by way of regulations made under the enacted Bill.