John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I appreciate that the Deputy's party is in favour of construction of the M3 motorway. It was a central plank of the Deputy McEntee's by-election campaign. The construction of a motorway is a matter for the National Roads Authority in the first instance. The authority has said that, as far as it is concerned, there is no potential for damage to the national monument, but I, as Minister responsible for heritage, must act in the best interest of our archaeological heritage. I said I would err on the side of caution and that is why I adopted the approach in question, with which most people interested in archaeology would agree. This is what people have said to me and why I acted the way I did.

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