Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill and commend those involved in the work to date, including on committees. This is common-sense legislation to modernise all areas in regard to lands. I have always had a fascination with maps, particularly historical maps, and I enjoy using the satellite imagery on Google Maps, which is accessible on our phones. Such maps provide a detailed and accurate image of where we are and where we came from. I recently came across pre-Famine maps from 1842. Whatever about the authorities at the time, they were not able to feed the people but they were able to map the country. Tremendous work was done without modern tools such as satellites. It is a wonderful resource available to people all over the country. It shows the households and structures at the time, which in my area of Connemara was before the railway was constructed. While one cannot see the railway, one can see the old cottages and the population of rural areas at the time. It is a fascinating resource.

On the work of Tailte Éireann, will there be a role for the Land Commission records? The issue of their publication has been raised and they are a valuable resource. Some records may not be palatable to some people because there was agitation among small households. There were stories of a recently widowed lady being told by the locals that she would not be able to run the farm and they agitated to have that land removed from her ownership. There are people who are very aware of such stories. Some of these records may not be palatable but it is still a record of our history.

Another issue is that of mapping errors that occurred during the transfer of hard-copy records to digital format. This can create problems in the transfer of sites, which I have come across, and they can take some time to sort out.

When I was in the Department, in its previous incarnation, work was ongoing on the national monuments Bill. I believe the Bill was published before pre-legislation scrutiny was undertaken, so I am not sure at what stage the Bill is. Where land is transferred or sold, I raised the issue at the time that it should be a requirement that the new owner be notified that an archaeological feature is present on the land in question. Some features may be hidden under scrub and the new owner may not have seen them. An opportunity to inform the new owner of a feature, which owners are required to protect by law, should be included.

National Parks and Wildlife Service maps are available to some extent. Could they be part of the package in relation to availability of designated areas, lest there be any confusion with boundaries of special areas of conservation, SACs, natural heritage areas, NHAs, and special protection areas, SPAs?

These are a few points about which there could be greater engagement by Tailte Éireann and other sectors. The body's name means "lands of Ireland" and I welcome the use of Irish. Cuirim fáilte roimh úsáid na Gaeilge d’ainm na heagraíochta nua seo. It would be beneficial if there were a one-stop shop for all land resources.