Ms Virginia Teehan:

It is nice to see the Deputy again. I worked with Tom Cassidy when I worked in Limerick. We agree with the Deputy. We operate the heritage officer programme with the local authorities, the CCMA and the chief executives. It is one of the most successful heritage programmes. We would love to see heritage units established in local authorities. We fully respect the fact that local authorities have lots of demands on them but we experience what the Deputy experiences - an enthusiasm for, interest in and commitment to heritage. Mr. Doyle outlined the important role that community archaeologists play. We would like to see community archaeologists, conservation officers, archivists and other heritage professionals employed more fully throughout local authorities because they are all key players in heritage.

A bit of good news today is that we have opened a grant scheme called the heritage stewardship fund of almost €1 million. It applies specifically to heritage professionals working in local authorities and the wider public service because we are aware of the fact that they have very limited access to funding other than their budgets, and local authorities are stretched. This fund is to support those professionals in the protection of heritage and the conservation of vulnerable places, just as the Deputy has outlined. We could, and want, to do more and I hope the new policy, Heritage Ireland 2030, which I understand from colleagues in the Department is at an advanced stage, will support the development of more comprehensive heritage management networks across the country.

The Deputy has previously raised the issue of graveyards. We provide and have provided advice on graveyards for communities and provided grants for community groups through our community grant schemes for the protection of graveyards. It is very worthwhile for us because we see the benefit for both communities and a sense of place and respect for the generations who have gone before us. Head 27 provides a facility whereby the Minister may vest in local authorities burial grounds the status of which is not clearly resolved. Some of these are the historic grounds such as those relating to disestablishment of the Church of Ireland that may previously have been historically Roman Catholic grounds. There is an opaqueness around access to those grounds so this Bill is helpful in that regard.

In summary, we very much welcome the Deputy's comments because they chime very much with our own desires. The Heritage Council has benefitted considerably through a 40% increase in funding and an increase in staff in the past two years. We are very grateful to the Government for that support but we do need more.