Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I strongly support the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by Senator Twomey. I agree with the points raised by Senators O'Toole and Keaveney. I have supported Senator O'Toole on this issue before in the House, on which occasion the Leader gave an indication he was willing to proceed along the lines proposed. There is a role for this House to fulfil in this regard. As the Senator said, there is no democratic scrutiny of what is happening in these North-South bodies and no report to this or the other House. I ask the Leader to revisit this issue.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, for his visit last week to Killarney House despite everything else that is going on. The Minister of State has responsibility at the Department of Finance for the Office of Public Works and also has responsibilities at the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. He is not Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Killarney House, like Muckross House, is a very important part of our built heritage. Unfortunately, some years ago, there was a Government decision to remove these fine buildings from the aegis of the Office of the Public Works and place them under the remit of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The National Parks and Wildlife Service may know much about wildlife, or the wild side of life, but I am concerned about its level of knowledge of our built heritage. This matter is crying out for redress. I was pleased that the Office of Public Works was called in by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to examine what can be done to shore the situation. I am glad the Minister of State saw for himself the appalling deterioration of Killarney House. However, I am very worried about the ability to follow through on this. There is no concrete plan in place. I ask the Leader to do what he can to address this situation.