James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following:

"(b) in the definition of 'national monument', after the words 'remains of a monument' by inserting 'as designated by the Minister and appearing in the National Monuments Register',".

I am concerned that under the legislation a site is either a national monument or it is not and there is no provision for grading of sites. In every other country in Europe a status of importance is assigned to national monuments. This legislation provides that the designation as a national monument is the highest designation which a site of historic interest can be granted by the State.

Sites can be designated as historic and in establishing a register in this regard much assistance was provided by various parties interested in historic monuments, such as historical societies. I understand that these sites are of far less significance than national monuments, yet while there is a register for their designation no similar mechanism is available for designating national monuments.

These amendments and my proposal for a new section 5 seek to address this failing and we should take this opportunity to rectify the situation. The decision as to whether a monument is of national, regional or local importance is a matter of subjective interpretation and in view of this, the State should designate a category in respect of monuments of national importance. I have been calling for a register for some time as it would solve many problems in this area. It may be argued that there is nothing to indicate that any particular site is a national monument and that it is a matter of interpretation. My amendment proposes that the Minister will make the decisions as to whether sites are national monuments and those that are should be designated as such and listed in the national monuments register, which I propose should be established.

There is no grading of sites as to their respective importance. There were different opinions as to the importance of the Carrickmines site from academics and others but the Supreme Court ruled last year that it was a national monument and this was not contested by local authorities. It is important that sites should be independently assessed and if the Minister of State accepts this amendment, history will record it as a positive contribution to the protection of our national monuments.