Mr. Michael Starrett:

I thank Dr. Bourke for those words, which I echo strongly. We really need all the support we can get. The Heritage Council would be very happy to administer any funding that was targeted at the assistant heritage officer programme. If we kick start that over the next 12 to 18 months, it would be a wonderful achievement.

There is a real job of work to be done with regard to Bord na Móna but, again, it is a tremendous opportunity. I know the area very well because the very first chairperson of the Heritage Council, Freda Rountree, was from the Fivealley-Blue Ball area just outside Tullamore so I spent a lot of time travelling up and down the road between the two places. Freda introduced me to the delights of the bogs of Ireland.

Bord na Móna has done tremendous work and has again shown what is possible. If committee members have not visited Lough Boora parklands I strongly recommend they do. There is potential to extend it so it is not only a nature conservation haven but a recreational site for people to visit and improve their well-being. They have built cycle tracks. They have done a lot but they can only do so much. I will return to the question about legislation. If there was a framework with empowering and enabling legislation that allowed local authorities and communities to identify what was needed for their areas and for areas to be designated as regional parks or something along those lines, as happens in the rest of Europe, there would be a legislative framework in which this issue of Bord na Móna could be addressed. There is an opportunity there and I hope the Heritage Council will help.

Heritage officers have been very active on the invasive species. The rhododendron and Japanese knotweed were mentioned. There is very good science now through the national biodiversity data centre. The national biodiversity data centre is the hub through which information on the spread of all invasive species, whether rhododendron or Japanese knotweed, are accessed. In terms of what can be done about it, it is very difficult. They are invasive species and the solutions are not easy. There are issues-----