Will the National Archives Bill have any relation to the general Heritage Bill and will the Minister consider adding some provisions to it to save some of our national heritage which is leaving the country?

The saving of our heritage is a matter of great concern but it is not appropriate to this Bill. The whole matter of heritage is under consideration by me and the Department of the Taoiseach and we hope to bring forward some ideas on that in the not too distant future. I do not think it would be appropriate to the National Archives Bill which we want to get through as quickly as possible.

Is the Minister satisfied that we are not losing time, as Mr. Homan Potterton said recently in a very trenchant speech, with regard to our art treasures?

That seems to be another area and involves the exporting of treasures from this country. In that respect we have gone a long way in preparing legislation with a view to introducing a six months' stay on the export of objets d'art. There are constitutional considerations, some of which are tied in with cases before the courts, particularly the Derrynaflan Chalice case. There are constitutional difficulties but we have done a lot of the work at this stage.