John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Ceann Comhairle knows, this matter was deferred to today. In a parliamentary question to the Minister in March, I asked about the archaeological significance and importance of the find at the excavation of lands at Scholarstown. They are known as the lands where the late former Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave, lived. I obtained a brief response to that question and an even briefer response to a subsequent parliamentary question that I submitted in recent weeks. Essentially, it stated, "The Department’s National Monuments Service will receive a full report of the excavation findings in due course."

I am raising this matter, which is of some significance, because the only available material that public representatives and the public have is the archaeological report compiled by the archaeology firm employed by the site's developer. A planning application has been submitted for the demolition of the house on that land and for enabling works. The closing date for that application is approaching quickly. All of the archaeological details have been compiled and submitted to South Dublin County Council, yet it was the Department that granted the excavation licence to, and worked with, the company carrying out the archaeological dig. Despite parliamentary questions submitted by me on the relative significance or otherwise of any archaeological find on the site, no details have been provided. To the best of my knowledge, the Department as a third party has not made a submission on the planning application either.

We know that, between 5 and 13 August last year, geographical test trenching confirmed that there was a ring fort on the site. On 7 August, human remains were exhumed. The initial findings showed 37 grave cuts, with 25 containing skeletal remains. Substantially more skeletal remains were found subsequently. The remains are dated to between 617 AD and 688 AD. The site is believed to have been an enclosed settlement and cemetery. On 26 September, a discussion on the impact of construction on the site and human remains took place with the Department. I understand that excavations were to be finished by 5 April. Three quarters of the enclosure and 71 burials had been excavated by that stage, leaving just a couple of burials to be excavated.

My understanding of the situation is based on the developer's archaeologist's submission. While ring forts are the most common archaeological finds, this site has been listed as being of medium to high significance due to the number of burials found. We know that the greatest threat to archaeological sites is during a construction phase. There is a plan for the demolition of the existing house, foul drainage works within the site boundary, etc. According to the archaeological report, power lines and other connections will cut through the ring fort and cemetery and there will be movement of machines and storage of materials in sensitive areas. The insertion of service lines would require creating a trench 4 m wide and an adjacent works corridor. Also according to the report, the National Monuments Service discussed mitigation measures with the developer.

Will the Department give some comment on the significance or otherwise of the finds on this site? Will the Department make a submission at some stage, be it as a third party or directly, to South Dublin County Council in the context of the planning application?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I understand that the Deputy wanted to raise this matter yesterday. As he knows, I was launching the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival and was not in a position to be in two places at once. I apologise for that. I know that he wanted me present today.

An archaeological assessment was carried out in this case as part of the normal pre-planning process for the new development. This assessment, comprising a geophysical survey and archaeological test excavations, identified the presence of subsurface archaeological remains. Given the nature of the evidence, I approved the excavation of the site. The archaeological excavations have been carried out under an excavation licence granted by my Department under the National Monuments Acts and in accordance with the method statement approved by the Department as part of the licensing process. The objective of an archaeological assessment is to verify that the approaches to preservation in situand preservation by record of archaeological material are applied appropriately to any particular development. All excavation licences are issued on the basis that the investigations are for the purpose of searching for archaeological features and to provide for their subsequent recording or protection. A standard licence condition requires a report to be submitted to the Department on the results of each investigation. The Department's National Monuments Service will receive this full report of the excavation findings in due course. Hence, I am not in a position currently to comment in any detail on what may have been discovered. I understand that the excavation at the site has recently been completed. It is intended that the full record of the excavations at the site will be made available and it is expected that the archaeologist who directed the excavation will publish a full account of the results in a suitable archaeological publication.

A referral in respect of enabling works that are currently subject to a live planning application has not yet been received by my Department from South Dublin County Council. The Department will comment as appropriate, assuming such a referral is received and in light of what is contained in the archaeological report. When the Department receives planning applications as a statutory consultee, they are considered in terms of their archaeological implications and appropriate recommendations are made to the planning authority where necessary. In applicable cases, this may result in the planning authority requesting further information from a developer in the form of a report on archaeological test excavations or the carrying out of such test excavations as a condition of grant of planning permission by the planning authority. These conditions are imposed by the planning authority and may be based on recommendations from the Department. In appropriate cases, the full archaeological excavation of archaeological deposits impacted by the development will be required as condition of the grant of planning permission.

The site in question came to light in the course of an archaeological assessment comprising a geophysical survey and test excavation, which were commissioned by the developer as part of preparing plans to develop the lands. In the absence of such an assessment, the site might never have come to light. It consists of an enclosed ditch, with burials in parts of it. On the basis of test excavations, it appeared to date from early medieval times. No surface features existed and the site was completely unknown prior to the archaeological assessment. As such, it was not subject to any legal protection under the National Monuments Acts. Having regard to the absence of any visible surface feature and the difficulty in preserving such a site on lands likely to be developed in some form in the future, including where a use is found for the site that is consistent with its preservation, the National Monuments Service agreed with the developer that the site could be fully archaeologically excavated by a professional archaeologist, working under licence from me as per the Acts.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I am grateful for the Minister's response. I did not get a copy of her script, so I would be grateful for that too. I received a two-line reply from the Minister to a parliamentary question on this issue yesterday. She has given a much more comprehensive reply today.

There is an urgency about the situation. While I take the Minister's point that none of this would have been discovered had someone not bought the site, sought to develop it and sent in an archaeological team, there is a report already. A full and comprehensive archaeologist's report has been submitted as part of the planning application. I wonder where the Department stands on this. The urgency owes to the fact that an application has been submitted to demolish the house and clear the site with a view to developing it.

To illustrate the scale of development on the site and why we need to assess its significance or otherwise, the developers sought to build 626 residential units, mainly in apartment blocks, in a submission to South Dublin County Council. As the Minister will be aware, campaigns for the local elections are under way and, therefore, it is a live issue in Scholarstown, Knocklyon, where my two colleagues, Councillors Emma Murphy and Deirdre O'Donovan, have been asked many questions about the matter. People are conscious that a decision on the planning application is imminent. I do not seek to get in anybody's way but we must bear in mind the nature of some previous archaeological discoveries. There were some lucrative archaeological discoveries only two miles away, at the site of the Hellfire Club. Given that a full archaeological report has been submitted to the county council, the absence of any meaningful response from the Department until today in respect of what role it can play in what will be a rather overwhelming planning permission application on the site is disappointing. Planning applications move quickly.

I would like the Minister's commitment, as the Minister with responsibility for heritage and the preservation of such sites, that she and her Department will keep a close eye on ensuring that the interests of the local community, of our heritage and of our history are preserved in the context of any planning application that proceeds in the future.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Suffice it to say, the Department is monitoring the matter closely and today was in touch with the archaeologist who is the licence holder for the Scholarstown site. As I stated, I understand that the excavation is complete, although I await a report on it, which is required to be submitted under the terms of the licence in any event. We have requested, and received, an interim report on the findings thus far and the results are consistent with the view of the site that emerged from the initial assessment, namely, that the site is likely to represent a form of medieval settlement enclosure that was subsequently used for burial. I understand that although it is of archaeological interest and the results of the excavation are important, it is not a unique or unusual site but instead is quite common. Now that the excavation has been completed, all the archaeological deposits have been carefully and scientifically removed. As a result, the site is no longer of significant archaeological interest and there is no basis for making it subject to legal protection under the National Monuments Acts. The focus should be on ensuring that a full and detailed report on the findings is prepared and made available to all who are interested. The National Monuments Service will focus on this in liaison with the holder of the excavation licence, who is legally bound to prepare such a report.

The Deputy mentioned a ring fort but my understanding is that it does not exist. Rather, there are remnants of ditches; it is not a ring fort at all, and there is nothing above the ground. He also referred to skeletal remains but all the bones have been removed and will be carbon-dated and examined by an osteoarchaeologist. They have been taken into care in perpetuity by the National Museum of Ireland.