Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and the witnesses. My background is that I am in construction. I work on the restoration of listed buildings in certain cases. The most recent building I worked on was Kilmallock Credit Union at the former An Post site in Kilmallock. It was a two-year project to return it to a workable status so it could be used within the community. I employ the lad with the JCB whom people are talking about. If he meets something during this work, I would have that responsibility. I love our history and all historical issues and I like to see things preserved.

An issue arises from the time a person meets something like this during the course of his or her work. The hill behind my house is called Knockfierna, which means "the hill of the truth". On the top of this hill, there are many masts providing Internet connections for people around the county. What age does something have to be in order to be considered a monument? Is it 100 years? There are many buildings within County Limerick which are historical to the area but are not listed. Equally, there are many listed buildings that will fall down and become obsolete because of a lack of investment. Who is responsible for this? Who will fund it? Is it the case that when one encounters an issue like this, one contacts the local authority? My experience with the local authority is that its staff in this area, including Tom Cassidy and Sarah McCutcheon, are overloaded with work at the moment. The staffing levels are not there for people to come out and look at historical sites.

What age does something have to be before it is considered a monument?