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

The remit of this committee is heritage and housing, while architecture and architectural policy cut across a range of other Departments, but many members of the committee are keen to play a supporting role to ensure the policies, particularly the two core principles that have been outlined, are amplified such that whether it is hospitals, schools or good quality public housing that are being built, those objectives are achieved. I cannot speak for other members of the committee, but the Minister of State will certainly have willing support from my party in amplifying that to the best of its ability.

As regards the monuments policy, we need to get the detail of the legislation right, but we also need to get the Bill through in as timely a manner as possible. I reassure our guests that the Bill is likely to enjoy a strong level of cross-party support. We need it. What we saw with the O'Rahilly house, for example, or some of the earlier iterations and legal challenges relating to Moore Street show the need for the most up-to-date set of legal protections for historic monuments and archaeological heritage. I reassure our guests that my party will be a supportive voice at this committee on both of those pieces of policy and legislation.