Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for the opportunity to clarify the position.

Having a site progressed from being on a national tentative list to its inscription by UNESCO on the world heritage list is a long and involved process that requires comprehensive management plans for the site, full agreement with local interests, significant local authority actions and support and, finally, the production of highly detailed nomination documents that require significant financial investment.

Each stage of the process has to be quality controlled and checked by experts to ensure that the nomination documentation reaches the high standards laid down by UNESCO. We are working at all times to UNESCO standards and requirements and not to any local framework.

Ireland's current tentative world heritage list has come about from a very comprehensive, thorough and inclusive process undertaken by a panel of Irish and international heritage experts specifically appointed for that purpose. The process included full public consultation and an in-depth review of all proposed candidate sites. The tentative list, as the Deputy outlined, produced by the expert group contains the following sites: the Burren, the Céide Fields, the monastic city of Clonmacnoise, the historic city of Dublin, early medieval monastic sites, the royal sites of Ireland, and the western stone forts.

In September 2013 my Department held a seminar to explain the next steps in the process to the local authorities and local groups from the areas with proposals that had successfully made it on to the tentative list. The objective was to gauge the extent of the support that would be available to advance these proposals and also to set out the work that would be involved and the associated costs. After the seminar, the representatives that are now most actively engaged with my Department in pushing on with their proposals are those from the Burren and the royal sites of Ireland.

In both these cases, initial technical evaluation reports, financed by the local authorities, have been produced to ensure that all are aware of the strengths and weaknesses in their proposals. The fundamental requirement is that each site must be capable of demonstrating outstanding universal value to UNESCO. Technical evaluations have been produced for each of the six sites forming part of the royal sites serial nomination. The Burren representatives are working on their version. My Department has arranged for the royal sites technical evaluation to be examined by an acknowledged expert. This process, financed by my Department, will be repeated in the case of the Burren evaluation later this year.

The next steps will involve developing management plans for each site, which is a UNESCO requirement, and the designation of core and buffer zones in each case. At each stage local consultation is required. This process will also have to take into account the fact that some sites will be managed by the Office of Public Works, others by local authorities and two monuments on the royal sites list are privately owned. Another, Eamhain Macha in Armagh, is in another jurisdiction with different laws and heritage practices.

The culmination of these steps will be the creation of the full nomination documents for each site. These will also be evaluated by experts and a recommendation made as to whether the dossier, as it is called, is of sufficiently high standard to make it through the UNESCO evaluation process.

Our built and natural heritage legacy is a key component of our tourism offering in Ireland. It gives us a distinct comparative advantage that sets our tourist offering above and apart from those of other nations. Additional world Heritage sites would add further to that advantage and I am committed to supporting the current proposals in every way that I can.

The process is a lengthy one and we must remember that all of the work at every stage must be supported and developed from the local level up, with stakeholder buy-in and commitment at each stage. While this will add to the timescale, it is infinitely preferable than a top-down approach that fails to engage with local communities. It also ensures a far better chance of best care and support for the protection and preservation of these marvellous sites into the future.

I am pleased to be able report the progress that has been made to date in this area, and I will continue to help the process in every way I can.

See this speech in context