There is no available data on the number and location of archaeolog ical sites which have been destroyed in the past 25 years.
Under the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1994, the Record of Monuments and Places was established. This places an onus on the owner-occupier of a recorded monument to give two months notice of any intended works at or in relation to the monument. Details of the setting up of the record in each county was notified in both national and relevant local newspapers and copies of the record are available in county council offices and libraries. In addition, under the Planning Acts, the local authorities refer development applications, which are likely to impact on recorded monuments, to my Department for advice and recommendations. Similarly, the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development refer applications for grant aid to my Department where the proposed development might impact on archaeological sites and monuments whilst under the REP scheme, which has over 40,000 participating farmers, protection of monuments on farmland is actively encouraged.
In a further initiative by my Department, a code of practice has been agreed with the National Roads Authority in relation to mitigation of impacts on sites and monuments from road construction and further codes are being discussed with other large scale developers, such as the Irish Concrete Federation, Bord Gáis and the Irish Ports Association.
There have been a number of successful prosecutions in recent years for breaches of the National Monuments Acts, 1930-94. These range from actual damage to sites, interference with sites without the appropriate licence and theft of artefacts. At present there is one case involving damage to a site in the courts system while there are also a number of civil actions being taken for recovery of stolen artefacts.
The Garda is also involved in a number of criminal investigations. In cases where there are reports of damage to monuments, the gardaí are asked to investigate but it is a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide on whether or not to prosecute.
In the specific case referred to by the Deputy, officials from my Department were informed of the location of the damaged monuments on 24 May 2001 and inspected it on 28 May 2001. Two ring forts have been levelled, field boundaries removed and the ground ploughed and seeded since the site was last inspected. My officials are currently reviewing the inspector's report and will then decide on appropriate follow-up action.
The National Monuments Acts are regarded generally as being quite effective compared with other jurisdictions but I want to further improve the protective provisions and, in this regard, my officials are at an advanced stage of drafting a consolidated and improved act governing national monuments.
