Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 652: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the poor condition, lack of maintenance and in particular the difficulty in accessing the neolithic portal tomb at Woodtown in south County Dublin; and if he will take steps to ensure its general environs are maintained in a way which facilitates access to interested parties. [12369/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The portal tomb monument at Woodtown, which is listed on the statutory Record of Monuments and Places for County Dublin, is in private ownership. There are currently over 120,000 sites listed on the Record of Monuments and Places nationally. The State has direct responsibility for over 700 national monuments but the conservation and maintenance of other monuments not in State care remains a matter for their owners subject to the necessary consent and notification requirements for any proposed works to such monuments as required under the National Monuments Acts 1930-2004.

Arrangements have been made for an archaeologist from my Department to inspect the Woodtown monument to assess its general condition with a view to advising the owner as to its future conservation. Public access to recorded monuments situated on private lands is at the discretion of the individual landowner.