Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

All the pre-planning efforts and all the geophysical studies on any particular route cannot define what may be found when one goes on site to construct a project. When that happens, the unexpected can occur, so someone somewhere must be able to call a halt on the basis that the project cannot proceed because a more detailed study is required. That is the purpose of the Bill. Deputies are aware that this is happening in Waterford with the M25 bypass, where archaeologists seem to have made a substantial discovery. That heritage must be protected by the State but, in the absence of section 14, there is no method of dealing with such a case. I want to deal with it and I am sure the House wants to ensure that such unexpected finds are protected. This Bill is the way to do so.

Deputies can legitimately raise other major questions concerning a raft of legislation from the 1930s to 1994.

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