Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am in Leinster House. I thank the Minister of State for the updates he has provided. There are three areas on which I would like more information. It is very welcome the State architectural policy will now be published. As the Minister of State and I know, it has been long delayed. When we met last year and spoke about this, there was an indication there would be further rounds of engagement with interested parties prior to publication. Has that happened? More important, what is the hope in terms of ensuring, particularly in the context of public investment, that State agencies and Departments will be made leaders in ensuring full adherence to this policy? We all wish to see the principles of sustainability and high quality architectural practice, especially when this is at taxpayers' expense.

It is great that the general scheme of the monuments Bill was published last week. When is it hoped to bring it to committee? When is it hoped to move to the full drafting of the Bill? This is very overdue legislation. It is several decades since we have had similar legislation. I have not yet had time to read the general scheme of the Bill but the Minister of State is aware I have a keen interest in 20th century architecture. Will the Bill cover not just what people generally consider to be architectural monuments, that is, those from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, but also the growing number of at-risk mid-century modernist buildings we need to ensure are protected?

As regards the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Minister of State did not provide a timeline in his update. He will have significant support from members of this committee in terms of where it is to be hoped he will take this, particularly from those of us who are advocating for a strong, independent and stand-alone National Parks and Wildlife Service not unlike the Environmental Protection Agency and certain other bodies. Is there a sense of when the renewal phase and those other nice reworded phrases might be timelined? We are all keen to see that progress.