Mr. Seán Kirwan:

I wish to emphasise again that there is an absence in the primary legislation, as envisaged in the general scheme. It is the absence of any date and there is no cut-off so quite modern structures or sites could be relevant things of relevant interest if they are a structure, building, burial site and so on. They also, to be eligible for entry into the register of monuments, would have to meet the further criterion of being of relevant interest so they would have to be of archaeological interest, historical interest or architectural interest. These are the criteria and one or more of those would bring a structure, etc. to be a relevant thing of relevant interest. Then if the Minister considers that it is appropriate that that particular relevant thing of relevant interest should go into the register, the Minister can so enter it, following consultation with owners and so on. Then a further decision, if the Minster believes that this now registered monument is of sufficient importance it can be, as we discussed earlier, elevated to have special protection that is above and beyond general protection. That is the way it will proceed. There are various decisions at different stages so it is quite open. I suppose that it is difficult to envisage all of the different circumstances over decades, potentially, that this legislation will, hopefully, be in force; it is difficult to envisage how it would work in particular cases but it sets a framework and it is an enabling provision that allows decisions to be taken as to whether or not to assign legal protection. The basic criteria will be out there in the primary legislation. There is also provision in it for the Minister to set out in codes of practice published under the Bill, when enacted, information as to how he or she, as Minister, intends to implement the legislation. Again, there can be a process of further policy development as to what exactly is going to go into the register in the future.