Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The statutory responsibilities of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regarding the national monument at Rath Lugh, Lismullen, County Meath are those provided for under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2004.

The national monument at Rath Lugh is located on an esker which is a ridge of stones, sand and gravel in the townland of Lismullen, County Meath. The entire esker is heavily overgrown with trees and scrub. The overgrowth has been removed where the land take for the M3 motorway cuts the western edge of the ridge. The lands on which the monument is located are owned by Coillte, the semi-State forestry body. The national monuments service has been in contact with Coillte regarding the ongoing and future protection of the monument and has received its full co-operation.

Concern has been expressed about the condition of the monument and that the removal of the overgrowth might destabilise part of the esker with an attendant danger of injury or destruction to the national monument at Rath Lugh. On 28 September 2007, the Minister placed a temporary preservation order on the national monument at Rath Lugh. The temporary preservation order had a six month validity and was due to expire on 28 March 2008. Last week, the Minister made that temporary preservation order permanent.

Arrangements are being made to have the preservation order laid before the Houses and to notify relevant parties of the making of the order.

The area of the monument covered by the preservation order is adjacent to but does not encroach on the lands made available by the National Roads Authority to the company responsible for constructing the M3 motorway. The area of the monument is delineated by reference to national grid co-ordinates in an Ordnance Survey map attached to the order. The temporary preservation order and the preservation order cover the same area, that is, the monument itself and a 20 m buffer zone. Neither order encompasses the entire esker on which the monument is located.

To assess the stability of the esker on which the monument at Rath Lugh is located the Minister commissioned a report from an independent firm of consultants with relevant expertise in this matter. The report from the consultants recommended that a number of precautionary measures be put in place to ensure that the esker is not undermined during the nearby road construction works or in the longer term. The Department has asked the NRA to implement the measures outlined in the consultants' report.

Issues of safety in respect of the M3 construction work sites and adherence to health and safety requirements on these sites, including such works sites in the vicinity of Rath Lugh, are matters for the NRA and the contractors involved. I echo the concerns of Deputy Tuffy regarding the importance of safety at the site.

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