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

Great. With respect, there is a contradiction in what the Minister of State has been saying to us on this. He has been saying the Heritage Council will be given additional staffing and then he told us that its entire budgetary requirement in terms of staffing has been met, so on the one hand he is saying it may not need additional staffing while on the other he is saying that if it needs additional staffing that will be met. Will he clarify what he is thinking of in relation to additional staffing resources? In any case, I do not think that covers this issue.

The idea of a national monuments advisory council is to have, as we had in the past and as exists now in the North, a body on a statutory footing with an independent panel of experts. A key thing in archaeology is there might be someone who knows a particular era very well and will not be well informed on another.

Having that range of expertise is important. Of course, the Heritage Council can look for external expertise, but the problem with the legislation is it is not built in as a safeguard that that must happen. All we are looking for here is the implementation of recommendation No. 3 of the pre-legislative scrutiny report, namely, that a national monuments advisory council as constituted in the original legislation be brought back. It is generally accepted that most of the recognised leading authorities on various elements of archaeology are found outside of the public service and that specialists are key for different periods and types of archaeology. This is a key proposal from our pre-legislative scrutiny and will be key in providing checks and balances for the strong powers the Minister will have under the legislation.