Most of the information featured on our website is the copyright of the Houses of the Oireachtas unless otherwise indicated.
Third parties
To bring together all of the historical information featured on this website involved gathering information from a wide number of bodies and institutions from across Irish society. Many such institutions have given their kind permission to allow us to reproduce their copyrighted documents, such as photographs, videos, letters, diaries, oral accounts, maps and reports. In particular, the National Library, the National Museum and the National Archives have given permission for many varied documents to be used in the construction of this website.
The permission given by these third parties only allows these materials to be used by the Houses of the Oireachtas on this website, and does not permit any other person, entity or institution to reuse, copy or alter those materials for any other purpose.
Most documents featured on the website have a copyright notation nearby to enable members of the public to contact the appropriate institution to seek permission for reuse. However, just because no notation is present, this does not mean that the material is not the copyright of a third party. Before seeking to reuse any part of this website, you should contact the Houses of the Oireachtas to determine whether a particular piece is copyrighted to the Oireachtas or to a third party.
The Houses of the Oireachtas cannot take responsibility for any person who violates the copyright of a third party by reusing, copying or altering materials found on this website.
Any material on the website which is not the copyrighted property of third parties, is copyright of the Oireachtas, and may be dealt with as discussed below.
Oireachtas copyright
The Houses of the Oireachtas comply with the European Communities (Re-use of Public Sector Information) Regulations 2005 to 2015, and encourage the commercial and non-commercial re-use of the information we produce. Re-use includes copying, issuing copies to the public, publishing, broadcasting and translating into other languages, as well as research and study. You have permission to re-use this copyright information free of charge, and in any format. The permission is subject to conditions as set out in our Oireachtas re-use licences.
Most of this information is subject to our Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence, which applies the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This means there are very few restrictions on how you may re-use it. In the terms of the Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence we have waived any requirement under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations that you formally apply to us for permission to re-use information covered by that licence. However, you still must:
- acknowledge the Houses of the Oireachtas as creator of the licensed material and acknowledge the copyright of the Houses;
- retain the Houses’ copyright notice;
- refer and, if possible, link, to the Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence; and
- retain all disclaimers supplied by the Houses.
Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence
Your re-use of the information is deemed to be your acceptance of these and the other terms of the Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence.
Broadcast proceedings
A distinct licence under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations applies to the re-use of broadcasts of Oireachtas proceedings, including committee proceedings. This is the Oireachtas (Broadcast Proceedings) PSI Licence. The term broadcast proceedings includes, in relation to proceedings in either House of the Oireachtas, or in a committee, sound and visual matter, fixed and moving images, and the transmission of the proceedings on the Internet. You must apply to us for permission to re-use the information to which this Licence applies. If you are given that permission, it will be subject to the Licence. Under it, you must
- acknowledge the source and our copyright in cases where you supply the information to others, preferably by way of watermarking any video footage and/or retaining any existing watermarks
- reproduce the information accurately and not use it in a misleading way
- not re-use the information in programmes of light entertainment, political satire, or party political broadcasts
- not use the information for the principal purpose of advertising or promoting a particular product or service, including by using it at party conferences or meetings, or in party promotional material, or the like (if the re-use is in broadcasting, you may include excerpts in news and current affairs programme trailers)
- ensure that any re-use is politically balanced and does not bring the proceedings of the Oireachtas into disrepute
- supervise and control the embedment of footage from your website to procure that onward users of the footage abide by the same terms and conditions.
Oireachtas (Broadcast Proceedings) PSI Licence
A distinct licence under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations applies to the re-use of broadcasts of Oireachtas proceedings, including committee proceedings.
Legislation and Journals
Wholly apart from copyright, producing or using an inaccurate version of legislation, or even a copy incorrectly appearing to be an official version, are serious offences. The official source for legislation is the bound volumes of the Acts of the Oireachtas and Statutory Instruments 1922 to date and published under statutory authority. If you publish a version of the text of legislation, you must include a disclaimer that it is not the official text of the Act or an official restatement. The official Journal of Proceedings of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann is the version published in hard copy under statutory authority.
Disclaimer
The Houses of the Oireachtas is not liable for any loss or liability associated with the re-use of information and does not certify that the information is up-to-date or error free. The publication of legislation on our website does not indicate that any particular provision in a statute was, or is currently, in force. The Houses of the Oireachtas does not authorise any user to have exclusive rights to re-use of its information.
Further information
For a full list of the information maintained by the Houses of the Oireachtas, please refer to our Freedom of Information section. For further information on the re-use of information maintained by the Houses of the Oireachtas, please contact our Communications Unit.
Contact details
Communications Unit
Houses of the Oireachtas Service
Kildare St
Dublin 2
D02 XR20
Ireland
communications@oireachtas.ie
+353 (0)1 618 3066