I move amendment No. 23: In page 25, line 29, to delete “or” and substitute “and”.

I move amendment No. 24: In page 25, after line 36, to insert the following: “(c) or the integrity of its context;”.

I move amendment No. 25: In page 27, line 17, after “State,” to insert “among the five most read newspapers,”. Déanann leasuithe Uimh. 25 agus Uimh. 26 ach go háirithe, ach Uimh. 71 agus Uimh. 72 chomh maith, cinnte de go mbeadh nuachtán náisiúnta i gceist. This is to ensure that only hard copy national newspapers with a readership among the top five most read are considered effective in delivering notice to the public. We have a problem in that there are so many newspapers and so many are national. There could be …

I will not delay on this. The whole idea is to make sure there is as wide a consultation as possible in respect of the areas where the notice can be viewed. Very few people go to their Garda stations and, in many parts of rural Ireland, half of them are closed during the week. As for the library, there is a problem as regards the numbers there. We will deal with whatever is there. It is about having the widest possible readership or consultation. People need to be able to see the signs in future. That is one of the…

I move amendment No. 26: In page 27, line 17, to delete “whether in hard copy or electronic form, or both” and substitute “in both hard and electronic form”.

I move amendment No. 27: In page 29, line 29, after “thing” ” to insert “, except for the purposes of section 173 ,” These amendments are related to others we have addressed. I have no problem with amendments Nos. 186 and 187, which have been tabled by the Minister, and I have addressed amendment No. 27.

I move amendment No. 32: In page 30, line 27, after “legend” to insert the following: “including association with Gaelic language or culture or the language or culture of Travellers or other minorities”.

I move amendment No. 33: In page 32, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “Valletta Convention 3. (1) Nothing in this Act shall be understood to violate or undermine the definitions, principles and requirements outlined in the Valletta Convention to which Ireland is a signatory. (2) The Minister, the Commissioners, the Board, the Council and each local authority, shall be required to ensure the Valletta Convention is adhered to in full when implementing this Act. (3) The Minister shall establish regula…

There are parts of the Valletta Convention that we do not fully address in the Bill and others we go well beyond. A part of our job is to allow for public access, which we can try to address in the next set of amendments. There are commitments to ensure everyone adheres fully to the convention. By virtue of us passing the Bill, they will have to do so. We need to have a discussion about public access. During the Bill’s pre-legislative scrutiny and its Second and Committee Stages, we debated the question of how to d…

Tairgim leasú a 35: In page 32, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “(a) that the historic, archaeological and cultural heritage of Ireland, as the product of the labour, craftsmanship and talent of their forebearers, belongs equally to all the people of the Irish nation and that this heritage must be protected for the people and as the inheritance to which future generations are entitled as a right;”. While the intent of this amendment is accepted in the Bill, it is not set out so explicitly therein.…

Those who drafted amendment No. 35 will appreciate the Minister of State calling their words eloquent. Eoghan Finn in the office has a lot to answer for, therefore. It is very rare that I would be accused of being eloquent in my words. The intent is in amendment No. 35, and amendment No. 36 in particular. With regard to amendment No. 39, I understand what the Minister of State is saying but other Ministers and bodies are answerable or must at least report to Oireachtas committees regarding their actions. The idea i…

I move amendment No. 36: In page 32, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: "(a) that the people have a right to appreciate, view and learn from their heritage, that existing rights of way to access, appreciate or view heritage should be vindicated and that, where possible, rights of way should be established in the case of monuments where they have not yet been established, with a view to further advancing the right of the people to access their heritage;".

I move amendment No. 40: In page 33, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “(5) (a) In the case of historic, archaeological and cultural heritage produced in or which originated in Ireland, but which is beyond the territorial extent set out in subsection (1) as a result of theft, plunder, deception, colonial practices, other unethical methods or where there is doubt surrounding the provenance of heritage understood to be of Irish origin, the Minister shall actively endeavour to secure the repatriation o…

This question is to ask the Minister whether she has met, or intends to meet, the Irish Hotels Federation and Fáilte Ireland to raise concerns around the issue of hotels price gouging, cancelling bookings without reason and readvertising those very same rooms at a much higher rate when major events, such as concerts are announced, and to make a statement on it.

I welcome the fact Fáilte Ireland is or will be looking at this issue and I look forward to that report. Cost pressures are not an excuse for the multiple increases in the usual prices we have seen around specific concerts, St. Patrick's Day or, most recently, the Taylor Swift concert. Multiple increases in the usual prices were sought for rooms. In some cases, bookings which had already been made for those dates were cancelled and readvertised at inflated costs. This is something my colleague, Deputy Munster, has …

The Minister is correct that it is not all the members - in fact, the vast majority of hotels are trying to get by. There may be increases every now and again due to costs and so forth, but the multiple increases in the usual prices in certain areas of the country, Dublin included, cannot be justified. If this is a threat to the industry in our State, then the Minister and the Government need to act. This is the very same body which lobbied for special VAT rates, which were justifiable in many cases. This body has …

Ar dtús báire, tapaím an deis seo biseach a ghuí ar an Aire Stáit, an Teachta O'Donovan. Tá súil agam go mbeidh sé anseo ag déanamh iomrá linn amach anseo arís san fhómhar. This question relates to the Arts Council, which issued a congratulatory notice to 141 artists saying they had gotten an award of €25,000 under the new generation artists fund at a total cost of €3.525 million. Is the Minister satisfied measures are being put in place to ensure a repeat of this does not happen? The Arts Council then had to withd…

The Minister outlined exactly what happened, namely, 141 applicants to the next generation artists fund got an email stating: "I am delighted to inform you that you have been awarded funding to the value of €25,000". Any artist I know would have celebrated straight away having got an email like that. An artist for whom this was life-changing award told me she immediately called her family to share the news and they even cried with happiness at her success. She said they were crying again again later "... when the A…

I appreciate the arm's-length principle in terms of the Arts Council in that the Minister cannot get involved in its day-to-day running. However, the whole thing was shambolic because the emails that went out immediately were incorrect in some cases. They were sent after the original error. One said an applicant was rejected for a different bursary award and then another said the council hoped the applicant would not be discouraged from applying for the scheme in future, despite 2023 supposedly being its last year.…

Cuirim an cheist seo ar an Aire atá freagrach as Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla. An bhfuil sí buartha go bhfuil an chuma ar an scéal nach bhfuil ag éirí leis an Stát cloí le rialú na hArd-Chúirte le déileáil le riaráistí de breis is 500 Acht gan leagan Gaeilge a bheith orthu?