Vol. 541 No. 2
831 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the excavation licences granted for archaeological excavations in County Meath in 2001 to date; and if she will ensure that the results of all of these excavations will be published in a form that will be accessible to the general public. [21154/01]
To date, a total of 123 excavation licences have been issued for archaeological excavations in County Meath. There is a requirement on all licence-holders to submit, within four weeks of the completion of the excavation, a preliminary report of the results to Dúchas, the heritage service of my Department, and to the National Museum of Ireland to be followed, unless circumstances do not permit, by a final report within 12 months of the completion of an excavation. These reports are made available to the public and interested parties on request to my Department. Summary results of archaeological excavations are also published annually in the publication Excavation Bulletin, which is funded by my Department.
