34 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the level of funding she will have at her disposal in 1999 under the new heritage fund to assist institutions to acquire, at short notice, heritage objects or collections of special interest or value; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14695/99]

In the published revised estimates for public services for 1999 a nominal amount of £1,000 has been provided under subhead C4, described as heritage fund, of my Department's Vote.

Each of the national collecting institutions under my aegis have their own acquisitions policies and annual acquisition budgets. Occasionally objects or collections of Irish provenance are offered for sale which one of the institutions under my aegis wishes to acquire in the national interest. Sometimes the likely cost of the acquisition can be beyond the normal purchasing budgets of the institution concerned. In previous years where such a case arose other areas of my Department's Vote have been scrutinised to see if any savings had arisen or were likely to arise which could be reallocated to assist the collecting institution. If savings are available then funds can be provided for the acquisition, subject to the agreement of the Department of Finance. These funds would then be transferred between subheads of my Department's Vote and channelled to the relevant institution.

Each case of this nature is carefully examined on its merits depending on many factors. The most important of which is a professional assessment of the monetary value of the object or collection concerned. This will determine the maximum price that should be bid or offered for the object or collection. Other factors such as the intrinsic importance of the proposed acquisition to the institution involved in the context of its collecting policies are also taken into account before a decision is made to bid for the object.