James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 43: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason he is overlooking the national inventory of heritage sites, which is leading to places of heritage value being omitted from world heritage status to the detriment of the tourist industry here and national heritage; and if his attention has been drawn to the sites he is overlooking. [7698/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Nominations for World Heritage Status will only be considered if the site has already been included on the State Party's tentative list, which is an inventory of those cultural and natural heritage properties considered to be of outstanding universal value. This is in line with the 'Operational Guidelines of the World Heritage Convention'. (A copy of these guidelines is available on the UNESCO website).

The current tentative list was compiled in 1992 by an internal Departmental committee, following a public consultation process, and formally submitted to UNESCO in accordance with the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The tentative list includes the Western Stone Forts, Cashel, Killarney National Park, North West Mayo Boglands, Clara Bog, Clonmacnoise, the Burren and Céide Fields. The World Heritage Committee recommends that tentative lists be reviewed every ten years. It is my intention to review Ireland's tentative list of sites this year. The preparation of any additional applications for inscription of any new sites will be considered in the context of that review.

The structures on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH), which currently number in excess of 25,000, would not automatically satisfy the criteria of "outstanding universal value" in World Heritage terms.