Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 98:

In page 41, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Guidelines for Affected Owners of Land and Property

19.The Minister shall publish guidelines for owners of land and property where their land or property encompasses a prescribed or registered monument, or any part of a prescribed or registered monument, outlining their duties and obligations to the protection of the monument, any supports or facilities available for such owners of land and property, and setting out guidance on best practice in heritage protection. The Minister shall furnish any prospective owners of land or property affected by prescription or registration of a monument with such guidelines, and provide clarity where sought by members of the public.”.

This is to try to deal with guidelines for affected owners of land and property. It is to ensure there are guidelines to set out their duties and obligations, the supports and facilities available to them and the best practice they should engage in to protect the heritage on their land and property. There has always been a concern among landowners and a sense that they should not mention a monument lest they end up with an unworkable obligation or that they may attract people onto their land. Only last week, I was in a part of Ireland where there seem to be national monuments coming out of every field. I guarantee the landowners have done their damnedest to protect them over the years. They may be on the Wild Atlantic Way but they are not encouraging people to know there are monuments on their land for fear they will end up with people traipsing across their land and so on. We have an obligation to ensure we give guidelines to the landowners, those who hold the property and, therefore, hold in trust our national moments, to ensure they understand their duties and know the supports, facilities and organisations that can aid them in their task of ensuring the national monument on their land is not interfered with or put under threat. They will do their best, as they have over the years, when it comes to farming around some of these monuments. Often, they set aside quite a big portion of land and they forgo what that land could be were a national monument not located there. They protect the monument and allow the land go wild or whatever.