Results 2,341-2,360 of 4,726 for speaker:Malcolm Noonan

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: I do not have staffing numbers to hand. There is a chief archaeological officer within the Heritage Council. We are endeavouring to introduce additional positions to ensure that, commensurate with the workload that will be there in terms of advice, that their role will be recognised through that to ensure they have adequate resources. To be fair, over the past three budgetary cycles, we...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: I do not have the figures to hand. We have seen a marked change in our general relationship with our built and archaeological heritage. Certainly, a lot of it is underpinned in Government policy through Heritage Ireland 2030. It is underpinned through the work of the National Monuments Service. That has been reflected and I have seen it over the last couple of years, particularly as we...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: In relation to amendment No. 15, I see no good reason to delete the definition of "Church Temporalities Commission", which has been drafted by Parliamentary Counsel. Reference to that commission and its report must be made in the Bill, given that Chapter 13 of Part 2 addresses the legal standing of certain historic burial grounds, which were once in the ownership of that commission. The...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: To give clarity in relation to amendment No. 191, the same legal protection would apply. They would both be registered monuments. I assure the Deputy that the same protection will apply. I accept the Deputy's point in relation to amendment No. 229 and the potential in that regard. A licence is required for that, however, so the safeguard is in place in terms of the destruction of an...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: It will be based on what I outlined, where there is a risk or danger from the material, such as in the examples I gave of undetonated munitions or toxic materials.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: There will be criteria for that licence to be granted in the licensing process.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: I think it will be under section 151, as far as I understand.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: Yes. The museum can request the necessary information.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: I do not think there is a specific reference to the examples I gave but, again, through the licensing system of the National Museum, they are taken on a case-by-case basis. There is an item relating to the public interest, including “the cultural, scientific, social or economic value of licensable activity in respect of which the licence is sought”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: That could be considered in a guidance document. I think it is a useful suggestion and it could be considered in that regard.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: I move amendment No. 7: In page 19, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “ “amenity value”, in relation to a monument or thing, includes the setting of the monument or thing;”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: I will respond to all of the amendments in sequence. On amendment No. 8, while I acknowledge the importance of integrating the Valletta Convention into the Bill, in this instance the use of the term "archaeological heritage" as defined there gives rise to several problems. First, it is important to note that the term "archaeological heritage", as currently defined in the Bill, covers an...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: I do. Regarding these amendments, these are another set of consequential amendments in relation to the addition of "cultural interest" into the term "relevant interest".

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: To respond first to Deputy O'Callaghan in regard to the issue of archaeological reserves and archaeological landscapes, the register can include ritual or ceremonial sites, sites where an historical event took place or sites with connections to legends or myths. Some of those surrounding areas could be quite large. They could be quite large sites in their own right. We are of the view that...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: Again, as I said, they would be within the register. It would include ritual or ceremonial sites. That is where that broad area is that can be under protection as well.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: It does not reference landscapes specifically. To go back to the point raised by Deputies O'Callaghan and Ó Broin, the Valletta Convention is a broad convention that has to be agreed by many signatory nations. What we are doing here is very specific. It not only gives effect to the Valletta Convention but affords a greater level of protection. Because this was raised in the Seanad as...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: I move amendment No. 2: In page 17, line 18, after “Heritage” to insert “and Miscellaneous Provisions”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: I move amendment No. 13: In page 20, lines 8 and 9, to delete “artistic, cultural, historic, scientific, social, technical or traditional” and substitute “cultural, historic, scientific, social or technical”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2023)

Malcolm Noonan: While I fully endorse and support every effort to promote the use and status of the Irish language, section 5(2) of the Heritage Act provides as follows: "There shall stand established on the establishment day a body to be known as An Chomhairle Oidhreachta or, in the English language, The Heritage Council to perform the functions conferred on it by this Act." Similarly, section 8(1) of the...