Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

This Bill will legalise official vandalism of national monuments. It gives the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government excessive powers to order destruction of national monuments. It does not provide for the kind of protection or independent examination of the issues involved which would assure us that national monuments will be adequately protected. It goes way beyond the immediate issue of the completion of the M50 at Carrickmines, about which there would not be much disagreement at this late stage, and it prescribes a mechanism by which the Minister can essentially order the destruction of a national monument and of part of our archaeological heritage, where that heritage presents in an inconvenient manner to either the development of a road or any other development taking place.

The provision is not confined to the development of critical infrastructure. The Bill could apply to any development, including private developments. The term "works", for example, in the definition section of the Bill is being changed to include "works of national, regional or local importance". That could mean anything. It is not confined to public works or works of critical infrastructure. The new definition could mean the building of an hotel, an apartment block or anything where the Minister at his discretion could decide it was, for example, of local importance.

The powers being given to the Minister in this Bill are too wide and present real danger to the protection of our environment. In its present form the Labour Party cannot support it.

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