Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Mr. Neary and Mr. Loughlin. I welcome these regulations. They are very positive. Previous speakers, including the Minister of State, have noted the importance of rolling out our rapid broadband infrastructure. We all know the importance of that and we do not need a lecture or lesson on it.

I have only one important issue I wish to raise with the Minister of State. It relates to protected structures. The Minister of State will know that protected structures are designated through a set of principles and processes for buildings that are of historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical importance. They are designated as protected structures and are on the record of protected structures, RPS, of each county development plan. There is no dispute about that. In the event of activity, works or planning, they are not exempt developments. In the general context of planning, there are prescribed bodies, such as An Taisce and many others, that receive notification of every planning application for interaction or development to a protected structure or a development within an architectural conservation area. That is set down in statute and law. I have personal experience in my county of issues where the local authority has gone after people for planning enforcement in this regard.

The Department's briefing note says that, in accordance with section 57(1) of the Act, carrying out works on protected structures or a proposed protected structure shall be an exempt development only if those works do not materially affect the character of the structure. We know what the character is because they have been designated protected structures but who decides it is "only" and who arbitrates whether it is exempt? There might be a concern there. While I do not want to hold anything up, we need greater clarity on this matter. Perhaps a circular or a memorandum could be sent to the local authorities because we do not want cabling and all sorts of infrastructure related to broadband tacked on to these types of structures or buildings. Some local authorities are good on this, such as Kilkenny County Council. I do not know if the Minister of State responsible for heritage has made any additional comments on this. I had intended to write to him today. He is a colleague of Deputy Burke's and he is in his Department. We need absolute clarity and I suggest a circular be published hand-in-hand with these regulations, because we do not want a whole set of litigation and we do not want An Taisce or any other organisation saying this infrastructure is in some way debasing a protected structure.

We know the importance of it. There are church spires in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown where the local authority took action to have the stuff removed even though it could not be seen from the road. As a matter of fact, those were ideal places to place this infrastructure because it could not be seen, but some local authorities are very hot on it and others are not. We need some sort of uniformity, clarity and guidance. I would be interested to hear what the officials have to say in that regard. I wish the witnesses well and they have my support.