Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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138. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the attempts she made to secure funding to buy the Yeats collection for the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41125/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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139. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her departmental officials are of the view that the most recent Yeats memorabilia that has become available to auction should be bought by State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41126/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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140. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she has received many requests for the Sate to buy the latest Yeats collection at auction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41127/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 138 to 140, inclusive, together.

I am happy to confirm that I was able to support the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland in acquiring a number of items in advance of the auction in London yesterday. 

In July this year I agreed to provide funding of up to €500,000 to the National Library of Ireland to assist in the acquisition of more than 500 letters between W.B. Yeats and his wife George Yeats.

I also provided €150,000 to the National Museum of Ireland to assist in the acquisition of such items as the National Museum of Ireland deemed appropriate, including furniture and other artefacts.

These letters and other items were withdrawn from auction as a result.  

This support is in addition to €518,000 which I provided in December 2016 to the National Library to assist in purchasing 10 signed letters from James Joyce to W.B. Yeats, the Dream Diary of W.B. Yeats wife George and the Yeats Family Library.

Alongside these purchases, the National Library of Ireland have announced the forthcoming donation by the Yeats family of both the remaining Yeats family archive and items currently on loan to the National Library of Ireland for its Yeats exhibition.

These donations will be made under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, the tax relief available in respect to donors of important national heritage items to the Irish national collections.

It is worth pointing out that the donation by the family of Yeats’ Noble medal and certificate in 2016 along with the further donation of material which is currently being finalised will have a total value of almost €2.5m. This will mean that in total, over the past 2 years the State has acquired material from the Yeats family collection amounting to a total value of over €4 million.

The combined acquisitions of Yeats material by the National Library make the National Library the world's largest W.B. Yeats archive.

The National Gallery of Ireland, the Office of Public Works and the trustees of Muckross House in Killarney National Park were also successful in acquiring items at yesterday’s auction, and the various institutions have now published details of the items which they have acquired either at auction or in advance of it.