Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Sherlock may be deputising but he certainly explained those issues very well and quite comprehensively. I will turn in a moment to amendment No. 28 about landscape but first I will speak about amendment No.14. It was said in the Chamber just a few minutes ago that the Government is not engaging with amendments and is not listening. That is not the case. I have often found it to be so in legislation but it certainly is not the case here. The Government has been engaging and listening to the concerns that we have been raising and it has been bringing forward amendments to address some of those issues. There is some progress being made. It is certainly not as much as I would like but I want to acknowledge that cooperation. Unfortunately, it is a rarity but it is happening now.

Amendment No.14 regarding battlefields is welcome and is helpful and we are going in the right direction. Will the Minister of State confirm, given this amendment, that all the battlefield sites that are identified and mapped as part of the Department's Irish battlefields project will be included in the forthcoming revision of the record of monuments and places? If the battlefield project has identified and mapped certain battlefields will the Minister of State, given the wording of this amendment, guarantee that these sites will be delineated as such in the forthcoming updating of the record of monuments and places? This is a key question. The Department initiated the Irish battlefields project, the aim of which was to map a number of key battle sites. This work was completed and these delineated sites would have acted as perfect templates for more a comprehensive inventory. Therefore, the Minister of State actually has maps with delineated archaeological areas at his disposal. Why have these delineated areas not informed and appeared in the Bill? The Irish battlefields project proved that this can be done. Given that the Department commissioned this work, we really have to ask the question why we are not seeing a proper follow through of this work in terms of legislation? Will the Minister of State produce copies of this project for us as Dáil Members?

I fully support amendment No. 28. I understand the protection afforded to the individual monuments in protected zones under this Bill but under which aspect of the Bill is there a protection for the intervening lands where there are not monuments as defined or considered under this Bill? How is this relevant? For example, if Ireland was going to approach UNESCO with an application for the passage tomb landscape of County Sligo, how could we do that when archaeological landscapes do not enjoy protection in this Bill?

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