The Government's decision last week to break-up Dúchas, the Heritage Service, may not be lawful, according to the Labour Party's environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore TD.
In the Dáil last Wednesday, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said the reorganisation was being done "on an administrative basis" rather than in the context of two forthcoming Bills dealing with heritage-related matters.
Mr Gilmore has queried whether the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, has the power to redistribute heritage responsibilities between his own Department and the Office of Public Works (OPW) without new legislation.
He also argued that the Government's decision is in breach of two Council of Europe conventions, the Valetta Convention and the Granada Convention, because it would deprive Ireland of an integrated heritage service.
"This is yet another example of Fianna Fáil and the PDs shooting an environmental watchdog in order to clear the way for uninterrupted development," he said, adding that Dúchas had "clearly angered some vested interests." It is believed that the IMPACT trade union, which represents most of the staff of Dúchas and which strongly opposed its break-up, is taking legal advice on whether the Government's decision to proceed on an administrative basis is legal.
Under the reorganisation, the Minister for the Environment is to retain responsibility for policy and operational matters relating to the natural heritage as well as for built heritage policy, while the OPW will manage this area.
"This will bring together, within the OPW, the conservation, maintenance, management and presentation to the public of all the main elements of the State's built heritage portfolio," Mr Cullen said. However, the Dúchas "brand" will go.
Instead, his Department is to be re-titled as the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. And while the Heritage Council is to be retained, its advisory role is to be "redefined" and the heritage remit of local authorities expanded.
One official source referred to problems in the Heritage Council which prompted three of its members to resign last year. He said Mr Cullen wanted the council to play a "more focused" role, but had not yet fully formulated his ideas on how it could be "invigorated".
As for giving the local authorities more responsibility for heritage matters, conservationists complain that many of them have shown little interest in this area, often failing to adopt recommendations from Dúchas on the protection of historic buildings.
The Minister said the new arrangements would "optimise organisational resources" by building on his Department's strengths in terms of regulation and policy development as well as the OPW's expertise in conservation and property management.
However, archaeologists and other conservation professionals fear that the break-up of Dúchas will allow damaging developments to "slip through the net", including large-scale road schemes which could have an adverse impact on archaeological sites.
Ms Elizabeth Connolly, a field archaeologist based in Co Clare, told Mr Cullen by letter last week that she was alarmed by the speed with which the decision was taken, saying this had caused "considerable disquiet" among those working with Dúchas.
The decision has been condemned by An Taisce as a "remarkable departure from best international practice". Ireland would now be unique in Europe in having the protection of monuments separated from the area of archaeological assessment. Noting that some 1,500 recorded monuments and other sites of archaeological interest were being destroyed annually, An Taisce said the dismantling of Dúchas would "have the effect of further disabling any chance of ensuring satisfactory protection of Ireland's heritage". The failure of Dúchas to take a strong stand in protecting particular sites, such as Carrickmines Castle in south Co Dublin, has also been criticised by An Taisce and others. The fact that it was part of the State apparatus often limited its independence.
Freedom in commenting on and objecting to development proposals with an impact on heritage sites is likely to be even more limited in the future as it will be exercised more directly in the name of the Minister for the Environment.
The move to dismantle Dúchas coincided with the publication last week by the TCD Policy Institute of a study calling for a more stringent policy framework to manage Ireland's heritage in the wake of an unprecedented expansion in the designation of buildings and sites. In The Containment of Heritage: Setting Limits to the Growth of Heritage in Ireland, author Mr Pat Cooke suggests that in the absence of such a framework, "the gap between our aspirations for the protection of heritage and our resources to fulfil them may become unsustainable." Mr Cooke, who works for Dúchas, said the Government should consider setting up a National Trust for Ireland, with direct responsibility for managing heritage sites. He suggested voluntary and community groups might play a more active role in managing heritage sites.
