Mr. Brian Keaney:

We are a professional planning institute, so our interface with archaeological and heritage monuments is through the planning system and the planning and development Acts. Like other speakers, we welcome the clarity offered by this proposed legislation. In terms of the day-to-day work of the planning system, there are obviously two sides to that. There is the plan-making side and then there is also the development management side of the coin as well. What the legislation does is it provides streamlining, and the streamlining and understanding of that is very helpful. From a policy point of view, what is particularly beneficial is the definitions, and the role of the Minister in terms of the register of monuments and the designation of world cultural sites. That is very helpful. As part of the development plan process, we often find at local government level in many cases, as I outlined in my opening statement, there are anomalies between what is included on various registers and what ends up in the development plan. Again, they are public documents. Development plans are contracts between the local authority in question and the community, the elected members and the executive. Clarity around all of that is very helpful.

From the development management side, when planning applications come in, whether it is for small-scale domestic development in urban centres or large infrastructural projects that might go through rural areas and may have impacts on areas of archaeological sensitivity, clarity around issues like the principle of costs and the burden of that cost and how that is applied is important. It is often put forward that schemes may be viable or unviable if they encounter archaeological heritage and the cost of recording and monitoring that is an unwelcome burden. At the same time, it loses sight of the value of our heritage and archaeology. It provides clarity regarding the importance of that issue.

As the previous speaker from the OPW referenced, the environmental impact assessment is especially helpful. Legislation is changing all the time and sometimes it is informed by case law as well, so we welcome greater clarity and understanding about how issues such as natural heritage and archaeology are dealt with as part of the planning management process.