Dr. Ruth Johnson:

In the case of my local authority, Dublin City Council, the first city archaeologist was appointed in the early 1990s and that was a result of the Woodquay excavations and public outcry on same. It was copper-fastened then by the Valletta Convention and the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994 that followed. That provided a platform and the councillors and executives understood the need to have professional and in-house archaeological advice within the organisation. Since 2018, we have two officers working in Dublin City Council. It is a big development area as well and we are engaged in different types of archaeological advice and activities within that local authority.

Cork is another city that has had long-standing archaeological advice and expertise. I do not know the exact ins and outs of how that came about to be honest. Mayo County Council has five archaeologists working for it at present and their appointment came about through the road's schemes. It was a peculiar and unusual arrangement but it is lucky to have a team of five archaeologists and they work in different areas of the local authority.

Some of them carry out archaeologically licensed activities on behalf of the local authority and others have engaged in planning and other internal advice and project management. In Limerick, one is based in the roads office. To answer the question, it is currently at the discretion of each local authority and its chief executive, depending on staffing levels.

There would be a good argument for a full suite of heritage professionals to work alongside conservation officers, who are supported in the Bill, and the heritage officers, who are supported by the Heritage Council, and to have local authority archaeological expertise to advise on planning and development. In local authorities where there are local authority archaeologists in place, the National Monuments Service often leaves the planning to us, for the most part. It would be quite a busy role given that we also carry out advice for local authority development. The planning authorities are also sometimes the developer. We are also sometimes a heritage resource manager. We have accrued new roles in some cases, such as the community monument fund, which we have been delighted to see in place for the past two years. That is the situation.