Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I am sorry to have to beg the indulgence of the House to raise the important matter of a massive reduction in expenditure for the Heritage Council in 2011.

The cuts published in the budget for 2011 will impact on the support offered by the State to its heritage assets and the local communities that support them. Our heritage is a vital part of our identity, sense of place and tourism offering and it provides a vital resource for recreation, health, learning and enjoyment. Significantly, the strong economic value of heritage can be shown in job creation, and this has been well tabulated by the Heritage Council itself.

In 2010, the council's budget was decreased by 30% to €9 million. In the 2011 budget it was reduced by a further 47% to €4.49 million. If expenditure cuts to the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the built heritage division of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government are also considered, there has been a 66% cut in State funding to heritage.

These cuts come at a time when tourism is identified as a key element in the recently published national recovery plan. Some 76% of tourists identified landscape and nature as the primary reason for visiting Ireland. These are integral parts of our national heritage. I cannot understand how this disproportionate cut to the National Heritage Council would be agreed by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, in view of the contribution it is likely to make to our national recovery. These cuts will affect conservation works in many towns and will mean a cessation in grants to historic buildings and thatched houses. New and innovative research funding schemes will be brought to an end.

I will give another example of the effect of these cuts before I pass to Deputy Tuffy. By cutting investment in State agencies whose core functions are the delivery of EU and internationally agreed biodiversity targets and the implementation of and compliance with various wildlife related EU directives, such as the Birds and Habitats Directives, we risk not meeting the new EU target and being taken to the European Court of Justice for failure to comply with them. Should the court find against Ireland in any of these cases, significant fines could be incurred. It does not make sense to run the risk of incurring fines to the European Union when we do not have to do so and when the Heritage Council has already suffered significant reductions in expenditure in 2010.

Can the Minister explain why he failed so miserably to withstand the pressure from the Department of Finance to cut funding to an agency that is particularly important for tourism development and heritage by 66%?

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