Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I congratulate Deputy Cowley on making a case for the west and the need for balanced regional development. I do not suppose he is suggesting national monuments are an impediment to the creation of balanced regional development. I appreciate the points he made on roads infrastructure and how the Bill is being given priority in the context of the completion of the M50, which is extremely important for the economic life of the country. I do not claim to be an expert on the issues involved. I bring a lay person's view to these matters despite the fact that I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The Bill has been drafted to address both the immediate consequences of the High Court decision in regard to the Carrickmines site and the longer term implications of that decision. The Bill will enable the necessary completion of the south-eastern motorway as well as providing a statutory structure for dealing with archaeological heritage in the context of the provision of other major road infrastructure.

The Bill re-enacts section 14 of the National Monuments Act to provide a one-tier consent process for works to a national monument whereby the consent of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is sought for such works. The Bill also provides that the National Museum is to be consulted when such consent is sought. It exempts certain approved road schemes with an environmental impact assessment, EIA, from the need for consent on the basis that the EIA consent procedure will itself have made recommendations for archaeological mitigation. However, the Bill gives the Minister further power to issue directions on how any archaeological excavations or works are to proceed.

Regarding Carrickmines, the Bill explicitly exempts the M50 motorway from any further consent or licences so that excavations there can be finished once the legislation is enacted. The Bill also provides a new power to deal with unknown national monuments which may be discovered during the course of construction and which had not been identified in the environmental impact statement, EIS. In the most serious cases, it may require a new EIS to be prepared with a further round of public consultation. In addition, the Bill clarifies the transfer of functions to different Ministers and the Commissioners of Public Works under different statutory instruments.

The purpose of the Bill is essentially the completion of various road projects in the pipeline. These include the south-eastern route of the M50, the M3 motorway and the site at Woodstown on the N25 in Waterford, with which the Minister would be familiar, in addition to other road projects under consideration.

Many speakers have highlighted the importance of our archaeological heritage. The past is important and needs to be taken into account as we plan for the future. While archaeological heritage is also important from the point of view of tourism, I do not wish to over-emphasise that aspect.

I am not talking about commercial tourism but more about heritage tourism.

We are heading for the summer recess and I am reminded of a book I read during last year's recess, A Ghost Upon Your Path by John McCarthy who with Brian Keenan was a hostage in the Middle East. He came to Kerry to rediscover himself and come to terms with what happened to him.

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