Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 7 Oct 2003

Vol. 571 No. 4

Written Answers. - Archaeological Sites.

John Bruton

Ceist:

514 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the number of licences for archaeological excavations issued since 1997; the archaeologist to whom the licence was issued; the location of the excavation and its duration; if the excavation is now completed; the locations the artefacts discovered in the excavation are now lodged; if the report of the excavation has been published or made available to the public as required by the licence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22256/03]

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. Cullen)

Since 1997 to date, my Department has issued approximately 7,500 excavation licences. My Department has set up a database to record all licences issued includ ing information relating to the individual archaeologist as well as the site location. I will arrange to have a copy of the data forwarded to the Deputy.

The care and conservation of artefacts is a matter for the National Museum of Ireland; my Department's records do not document whether artefacts have been lodged with the museum.

My Department ensures that summary reports of all excavations are published annually by contributing to the research, editing and publication of the annual excavations bulletin, which contains a summary report of excavations carried out in the relevant year. This information is also available on a dedicated website, at www.excavations.ie, which is also funded by my Department. My Department is also pursuing any outstanding excavation reports.