Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will come in on this group of amendments. As Deputy Ó Snodaigh has said, these relate, for the most part, to definitional issues in the Bill. It is important in such an important overhaul of the National Monuments Acts that we would see clarity of definitions. Government amendment No. 6 in this group provides a more contextual definition of "amenity". I welcome that. It is similar, in many ways, to our amendment No. 28 in the next group, which would include reference to "landscape". We need that broader understanding of cultural heritage.

We in the Labour Party are keen to support the Bill although we want to ensure it has clarity of definitions throughout and can be amended to enable the reflection of international standards to ensure the highest possible protection of our heritage. As my colleague, Deputy Duncan Smith, said on Second Stage, we have a chequered history of heritage protection. I am thinking of sites such as Wood Quay, which was shamefully destroyed. I am thinking too of Iveagh Markets, close to my own area, on which issue I was glad to see the Minister of State's intervention. I am also thinking of Rathmines town hall about which the Minister of State and I have spoken before. It is important that we relate back to the original vision of our now President Michael D. Higgins on his introduction of the Heritage Act in the 1990s, which was to ensure that we have updated definitions and real clarity around what we are protecting, and to ensure the highest possible level of protection. While we are protecting amenities, monuments and things, we must, as the Minister of State said, include the setting of the monument. Our amendment No. 28 intends to ensure we are also protecting landscapes and ensuring the landscape itself can be understood as requiring protection. Too often in the past, we have seen monuments as discrete entities in the landscape rather than understanding that the landscape itself is a hugely important part of our heritage.

I support Deputy Ó Snodaigh's attempts to ensure there is clarity of definition and that we have the broadest possible protection of our heritage in this group of amendments.

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