Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 1 Feb 2000

Vol. 513 No. 3

Written Answers. - Departmental Appointments.

Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

81 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the discussions, if any, she has had with the Department of Environment and Local Government in regard to approaching local authorities with a view to appointing archaeologists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2341/00]

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Miss de Valera)

My Department is about to engage in discussions with the Department of the Environment and Local Government in regard to the employment by local authorities of archaeologists. The Department also raised the issue with the County Managers Association in December 1999.

The proposal that local authorities would appoint their own archaeologists is one that I support. It would ensure greater devolution of responsibilities to local authorities whereby they would take a more direct interest in the protection of their own local archaeological heritage and in this way, provide more efficient and effective management of the archaeological resource. As the Deputy may already be aware, several local authorities have already appointed archaeologists to their staff, most notably Dublin and Cork corporations. These appointments have not only acted to provide advice and assistance to the local authorities and developers on proposals for new developments in a more hands-on way, but they have been very successful in heightening awareness of the existence of and the need to protect sites of archaeological interest. I encourage other local authorities to follow suit and I hope to be able to explore in the coming months the possibilities for putting such arrangements in place on a more widespread basis.