Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yes. On amendment No. 192, it would be possible to have a significant monument which is in private ownership at the side of a public road. This legislation states that unless the owner of that monument, because it is in private ownership, gives explicit permission it would simply not be legal for a local authority or Minister to promote public access to it. This would be the case even though the access to it could be on public land in full public ownership. Once the monument is on land in private ownership, it would, therefore, if this legislation goes ahead, be illegal for the Minister or local authority to promote such a monument. I refer to putting it on a map for visitors and pointing out the way to get to it. Clearly, of course, the monument may be a closed structure, which it may not be possible to get into, as it is on private land and all the rest, but this approach seems to be an extraordinary tying of the hands in this regard. I do not see why it is necessary and I do not see what the benefit of it is. I do not see why there would be a desire to have a blanket ban on promoting public access to significant monuments, as this legislation now provides for. Going back to the previous discussions, it could be difficult to locate the owner. This is one of the reasons we could not provide for notification earlier. If it is difficult to locate the owner, therefore, how will it be possible to get the written permission? I do not see why this is necessary and I do not think that the case for this being necessary is being made sufficiently.