Mr. Seán Kirwan:

I do not believe the general scheme sets the detail of consultation procedures when making those decisions. It is certainly something that could be looked at during drafting. There used to be a body called the National Monuments Advisory Council whose functions are now vested in the Heritage Council. It is the statutory adviser to the Minister under the existing legislation. If there are concerns about issues such as the downgrading, that will be provided for. I would not see it as something that would occur very often but provision would probably be made so that something could be moved from special protection down to general protection.

One option that could be considered in the final drafting would be to insert a requirement that the Minister would consult the Heritage Council, for example, before doing that. That would be analogous to the existing position if the Minister is considering removing an existing preservation order on a national monument. The existing Act provides that the Minister will consult with the advisory council. As I said, that used to be the National Monuments Advisory Council and is now the Heritage Council. In effect, the Minister must consult the Heritage Council before taking that step. There would certainly be scope, if desired, to insert that kind of safeguard into the new legislation.