Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

County councils are putting preservation orders on everything, including barns. The idea that it is all happening in town and villages is inaccurate; it is happening throughout the countryside. I do not know what the hang-up is; everyone is talking about towns and villages as if everywhere else is in some kind of fantasy hinterland. The townlands of Ireland are as real as the towns. People are finding that every second building that has any heritage problem is being preserved but they are not being given the resources to preserve them. They are frozen in time and impossible to renovate in any way because they have become too expensive with all the stipulations of conservation architects and so on. I am simply making the point that I will support a €20 million, €30 million or €40 million fund, but given the rate of designation the Minister is going to have to put her money where her mouth is.