Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. Funding will be a key element of any plan. As we provide more money under Project Ireland 2040, good schemes such as the built heritage investment scheme will require increased investment as we emerge from the lost decade. These are very good schemes but they have not been able to do what we would like them to do due to the lack of funding. Resources for schemes are crucial, as is investment in the key staff who deliver them. Most local authorities have one heritage officer and one conservation officer, who do great work. They are very busy and are critical in terms of the community engagement piece. They are well placed on the ground to work with community groups. In my experience of dealing with graveyard committees and other small voluntary groups, the community-led groups do much of that work, but the heritage professionals in the council tend to be that link. They are very busy and consideration will have to be given to giving them extra resources and staff to make sure they can do the great work they do in working with the community groups who do the work on the ground.

See this speech in context