Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

When I contributed to the Bill on Second Stage I referred to the fact that many local authorities had national monument advisory committees. I was a member of one such committee. As Senator Ó Murchú said, the committees did more than just list national monuments. They wrote short histories of the monument and put a plaque on it and provided walkways to monuments that were difficult to access. Perhaps the Minister of State will inform the House if local authorities still do this work, given that SPCs are taking over monuments work and tourism work, because they have a role to play.

I remember the late Fr. Egan from Portumna who wrote many histories of the monuments of east Galway and of the O'Kelly family in particular. I hope local authorities will continue to do this work or failing that, that some other authority will provide that information and maintain a list and the history of national monuments. This should be done in conjunction with Bord Fáilte to promote national monuments so that people can visit them. In the past the Government provided a booklet on various monuments. One can get a heritage card to visit any of the monuments throughout the country. I would like to see that working and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is doing great work in that area. I hope the Minister of State can assure the House this work will continue.