Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 19, to delete lines 13 and 14 and substitute the following: “ “archaeological heritage” shall include structures, constructions, groups of buildings, developed sites, moveable objects, monuments of other kinds, as well as their context, whether situated on land or under water;”.

I will speak to amendments Nos. 8 to 10, inclusive, first and get the Minister of State's response before dealing with the other amendments. Amendment No. 8 is straightforward in that it will substitute the definition of "archaeological heritage" proposed by the Government with the definition in Article 1 of the Valletta Convention. Given we have signed up to that convention, that seems more appropriate. I understand the Minister of State is of the view there might be benefits to having a slightly different definition, so I am interested in hearing his response to that.

Amendment No. 9 seeks to insert a new definition for "archaeological interest" as "objects, sites, structures and other items associated with historic and cultural heritage". The Minister of State will recall this relates to recommendation 5 of the joint committee's pre-legislative scrutiny report. It will ensure the definition includes heritage, as well as mere archaeology.

Amendment No. 10 seeks to delete "or person" and to substitute ", period, person, subject or theme". The purpose is to broaden the definition such that it will include not just persons but also certain forms of craft or periods of design and related matters.