Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is a fair point. This is a matter for the Heritage Council to anticipate what it requires and to build up its resources over time. It will be appreciated that once this Bill is enacted and that role is in place for the Heritage Council, it will make its requests about what it needs in the context of additional resources through the budgetary process. Again, I do not have that to hand. To give assurances again, consistently over the past three years the Government has met the requirements of the Heritage Council in regard to the additional roles it has been given and the additional resources it is provided with, for instance, in respect of biodiversity officers and the other roles that it has to perform. The Government has met the budgetary requirements of the Heritage Council year on year since the start of its term of office. We just await the council's deliberations on its needs in the context of this particular piece of work.