Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank both witnesses for their opening statements and for highlighting this issue. The power of this committee is that we can delve into these granular and important issues. As Deputy O'Donoghue said, this is our heritage. The witnesses may ask why a Deputy who represents Dún Laoghaire where there are no thatched roof cottages is speaking. Not too far from my constituency, in Stepaside and Enniskerry, there are thatched cottages but they are disappearing at a rate of knots.

After spending so much time and money restoring a thatched roof, for Mr. Darby to be encouraged or advised to go with a slate roof is not where we want to be. That is the easy solution. The experience of Ms McNelis's parents has been that because their thatched property is listed, they have been almost hemmed in to a useless property, if Ms McNelis will excuse the phrase. That is not how it should be. I went through development plans when I was a councillor and they are meant to be about affording protection to these properties so they are not destroyed. That should not shackle owners and prevent them from doing anything with their property either. We either respect private property rights or we do not.

I accept the point that there are not enough heritage officers. There are some who say that where there are heritage officers in place, they make the problem worse because they are not working hand in hand with owners. We need to get to a better position of respecting, protecting and encouraging thatched roofs. This is not only about the physical entity but also the thatching trade and ensuring we do not lose that skill. There is a lot to be done on this matter. The committee needs to correspond with the Department directly and I hope representatives of the Department will speak directly to us.

Are the witnesses aware of any actions that have come from the 2005 report? On the insurance side and as regards providing a remedy for properties, to my mind there has been nothing done in decades and we have lost more properties than we have been able to maintain. I do not have a question per seto the witnesses, primarily because their opening statements gave us the information and exposed the problem that lies ahead. I suggest that the committee correspond promptly with the Department and that members, both individually and collectively, raise the matter with the Minister in the Dáil.

Before today's meeting, I had a good discussion with a constituent who has a thatched property. He raised many of the issues we have discussed today. Unfortunately, the problem is the same no matter where in the country the property is and it is that insurance remains astronomical and unaffordable for many people. This is having an impact on the physical heritage of our landscape. I suggest we correspond with the Department and invite its representatives to appear before us to find out what it is proposing to do to ensure homeowners are encouraged to retain thatched roofs.