Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Unsurprisingly, the Minister has introduced a Bill which seeks to put developers and the interests of the National Roads Authority before safeguarding our heritage. Why does it not surprise me? Like so much of the legislation recently brought before the House by the coalition, this is emergency legislation necessitated by the fact that the Supreme Court ruled that the Government was not empowered to enact orders in 1996 and 2002, which had established a new scheme of consents to any works involving the removal, defacing or destruction of a national monument.

This is anti-heritage legislation designed to overcome conservationists' opposition to the Carrickmines interchange on the M50, the M3 from Clonee to north of Kells and the Waterford bypass. Perhaps it will also impinge on the construction of a four-storey hotel 20 metres from Trim Castle.

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