Section 77 permits the granting of a lease or licence in respect of land comprising a national monument in the ownership or guardianship of the Minister or a local authority. What is meant by a lease or licence under section 77 is permission by a property owner that permits a person to enter on lands without creating the relationship of landlord and tenant. It does not mean a licence under the Bill enabling the carrying out of works, as is made clear by the reference to section 151 in subsections 77(1) and 77(2). S…

Again, I appreciate the points Senator Higgins is making, but section 75(1) is very clear around maintaining the archaeological interest. I think that, rather than maintenance, is what the Senator was referring to. Therefore, I do not think the amendments as proposed are necessary.

Section 92, which was amended recently on Committee Stage, provides comprehensive provisions for consultation regarding world heritage property, as well as property which has potential to become world heritage property. In 2021, the world heritage operational guidelines provided comprehensive guidance on the role of communities in world heritage matters such as encouraging states' parties to include balanced participation with a wide variety of stakeholders and rights holders, including local communities, site mana…

I appreciate the point that the Senator is making in relation to future-proofing this Bill. In that regard, it is important that we discuss with the OPC if there is a necessity to make it clearer in the drafting.

I again acknowledge the value of reviewing and monitoring the operation of new legislation. With respect to the proposed amendment No. 36, however, I believe other mechanisms have already been established that provide for the reporting requirements outlined by the Senator in this amendment. First, it is worth mentioning that the post-enactment scrutiny process will require a report on the functioning of the Bill to be laid in the parliamentary library 12 months after the Bill's enactment. Importantly, this report w…

If it is of use to the Deputy, we might provide a more detailed briefing for him. I cannot give him the full response regarding the information he is seeking from me this morning but it might be useful to give him a detailed briefing by NPWS staff regarding the project, and that might be of assistance in providing where we are on the timeline. Regarding the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2021, we are progressing it, and it is on the Order Paper. I hope we will make progress on that this year.

As I outlined, in accordance with the EU VAT directive, farmers can elect whether to register for VAT in respect of their farming business. I take on board the point the Deputy made about larger farms being more inclined towards VAT registration, but for many small farmers, registering for VAT is an unnecessary complexity that is not possible to justify given the small-scale nature of their business. The farmer's flat-rate scheme, therefore, provided by the EU VAT directive is key to supporting such farmers. It is …

Before I sum up I will respond to a few of the contributions from Deputies. In Deputy Bacik’s contribution she mentioned again the 1 million homes and about engagement with Government. We would love to engage with the Labour Party on how it proposes to achieve that. We are always willing and open to the ideas of the Opposition. That is critical. Deputy Bríd Smith mentioned that we are putting it into the hands of private developers. That is not true. There has been the greatest investment by the State in the histor…

I am taking the spirit of the question the Senator is asking as regarding assistance to local authorities in collecting the revenue and in animating sites for activation for development. I think this is a very important issue. For some background, the Derelict Sites Act 1990, as amended, imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all responsible steps to ensure the land does not become or continue to be a derelict site. The Act also imposes a duty on local authorities to take all reasonable …

I take from the Senator's question that he sees a lack of urgency. I will relay that comment back to the Department. Regarding the working group, it is important that it concludes its work and is able to issue a set of recommendations to the Minister. The measures I outlined to address vacancy and dereliction are having an impact across the country. While it is perhaps not on the scale we want them to, they are making good ground across the country. I announced grants in the last few weeks that also address our her…

The small villages growth schemes by Uisce Éireann are a matter and operational issue for the organisation. They are excellent schemes and are having a real impact in rural communities, notwithstanding the challenges in some areas of trying to get confirmation to proceed with projects. This is a matter we will take up with Uisce Éireann.

With your indulgence, Chair, I will follow up on some issues raised at our last session, on 22 March, by way of assistance, before responding to the proposed amendments. I thank Senators for the useful engagement and worthwhile discussions on some of the important matters the Bill intends to provide for. While the text of the proposed amendments will always provide a good basis for our debate in the Chamber, it is sometimes the discussions themselves on the proposed amendments that can provide the most value. On re…

I thank both Senators for their comments and their positive response to the proposals. In response to Senator Boyhan, it would be at Dáil stage that we would look at those amendments on Valletta. I welcome his comments on what we propose. It is being brought forward on foot of the conversations we had here at the last session. That is important. I appreciate the contributions of Senators to strengthening the Bill, particularly in relation to the Valletta Convention. On Senator Higgins's comments, intangible cultura…

I commend that wonderful documentary. It was a great credit to all of our staff in the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS. The strategy review of the NPWS the Government committed to and which it is now implementing is in train. The number of staff, including rangers and general operatives, across our national parks has increased significantly over the last year. I agree with the Deputy on deer management. It is an issue the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and I have been working on through the deer forum. We …

Before I speak on the amendments, I wish to make a number of general comments to follow up on the contributions of Senators Higgins and Boyhan. I welcome the proposals to try to strengthen the consultation requirements. I am certain that the approach we are taking is the correct one. I see valuable roles for the PPNs in many areas of local consultation. The PPN network has, generally, gelled itself to be a very effective local participation tool for communities. The same is true of An Taisce. Senator Boyhan mention…

I thank the Senators for resubmitting this proposal. As we discussed on Committee Stage, a recommendation made to local authorities by way of guidelines made under section 167 of the enacted Bill is a far more appropriate, effective and practical way to pursue the matter, although I take on board the points made by the Senator in respect of knowledge and information, with which I fully agree. This is especially true given the advancements in mapping technology and similar online resources, and that is the primary r…

Again, I am of the view that the planning and development Bill is a much more suitable location for this. I think that would be a better approach and I have given a commitment that any reference to the National Monuments Acts, whether in the planning and development Bill or in this Bill, or whichever is enacted first, will be provided for under section 14 of this Bill. The commitment is there and the reference will be embedded, I am sure, in the planning and development Bill as well once that is enacted.

Before I respond, I will address the issue of the Heritage Council's role in consultation. Perhaps the Senator will give consideration to an option, by way of regulation, to enable the Heritage Council to consult with others. The Senator proposed this and it is a good suggestion that could be done by way of regulation in terms of how the Heritage Council gives consideration around the record. Specifically on amendment No. 14, the notification of works procedure, as set out under section 27, provides a substantial s…

I appreciate the Senator's concerns. She will also appreciate that this proposed amendment would remove the notification option entirely, which would have the wrong impact. Again, I appreciate where the Senator is coming from in relation to this.

I thank the Senator for these proposals. Regarding the proposed amendments to section 27, I cannot accept these due to the limitations they would introduce. I will give an example. If a farmer has been ploughing the same field for decades and he or she makes a report of the discovery of a crop mark that may indicate the presence of an archaeological site, perhaps after a particularly dry summer, that farmer would be prevented from continuing to plough that field unless the recurrent activity was exempted, in this c…