Historic and Archaeological Heritage and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title and commencement

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Historic and Archaeological Heritage and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023.

(2) Chapter 1 of Part 13 and the Foreshore Acts 1933 to 2022 may be cited together as the Foreshore Acts 1933 to 2023.

(3) Chapter 3 of Part 13 and the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2022 may be cited together as the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2023.

(4) Chapter 5 of Part 13 and the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2020 may be cited together as the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2023.

(5) Chapters 6 and 7 of Part 13 and the Local Government Acts 1925 to 2022 may be cited together as the Local Government Acts 1925 to 2023 and shall be construed together as one.

(6) Chapter 8 of Part 13 and the Maritime Area Planning Acts 2021 and 2022 may be cited together as the Maritime Area Planning Acts 2021 to 2023 and shall be construed together as one.

(7) This Act (other than sections 225, 227, 228, 231, 233, 234, 238, 239, 240, 242 and 243 and Chapters 2 and 6 of Part 13) shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

(8) Section 242 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

(9) Sections 227 and 234 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media, appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

(10) Section 228 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Defence, appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

(11) Sections 231 and 238 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Transport, appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

(12) Sections 233, 239 and 240 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Justice, appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

(13) Section 243 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

2. Interpretation - general

2. (1) In this Act—

“AA” means appropriate assessment;

“act” includes an ongoing activity;

“Act of 1869” means the Irish Church Act 1869;

“Act of 1878” means the Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878;

“Act of 1882” means the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882;

“Act of 1892” means the Ancient Monuments Protection (Ireland) Act 1892;

“Act of 1903” means the Irish Land Act 1903;

“Act of 1910” means the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1910;

“Act of 1925” means the Shannon Electricity Act 1925;

“Act of 1930” means the National Monuments Act 1930;

“Act of 1954” means the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1954;

“Act of 1956” means the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956;

“Act of 1964” means the Registration of Title Act 1964;

“Act of 1987” means the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1987;

“Act of 1993” means the Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Wreck) Act 1993;

“Act of 1994” means the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994;

“Act of 1995” means the Heritage Act 1995;

“Act of 1997” means the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997;

“Act of 2000” means the Planning and Development Act 2000;

“Act of 2001” means, other than in Chapter 4 of Part 13, the Local Government Act 2001;

“Act of 2014” means the Companies Act 2014;

“Act of 2021” means, other than in Chapter 8 of Part 13, the Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2021;

F1["Act of 2024" means the Planning and Development Act 2024;]

“amenity”, in relation to a monument or thing, includes the setting of the monument or thing, and “amenity value” shall be construed accordingly;

“Ancient Monuments Protection Acts” means the Act of 1882, the Act of 1892 and the Act of 1910;

“appropriate assessment” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 2 of the Habitats Regulations;

“archaeological excavation” means digging or excavating in or under any land (whether with or without removing the surface of the land) for the purpose of searching for, identifying, locating or exposing archaeological heritage, whether or not such heritage is known to be on, in or under that land;

“archaeological heritage” means relevant things of archaeological interest and archaeological objects;

“archaeological monitoring” means the monitoring, overseeing or supervising of any digging or excavating on, in or under any land (whether with or without removing the surface of the land) where—

(a) the digging or excavating is not in connection with archaeological excavation or any other archaeological purpose, and

(b) the monitoring, overseeing or supervising is for the purpose of identifying archaeological heritage which may be found or uncovered in the course of or as a result of such digging or excavating, whether or not such heritage is known to be on, in or under that land;

“archaeological object” means—

(a) either—

(i) a chattel, or

(ii) a chattel situated at or removed from a relevant thing of a relevant interest or a monument,

that, by reason of the archaeological interest attaching to it or of its association with any historic event, period, subject or person, has a cultural, monetary or scientific value greater than its intrinsic value,

(b) a chattel collected in the course of the carrying out or undertaking of archaeological excavation, archaeological monitoring or the searching for archaeological objects lying exposed on the surface of land, or

(c) an historic object having no known owner;

“archaeology” means the study of past human societies of all periods, either as a whole or of various aspects of them, through the material remains of all forms, moveable and immoveable, left by those societies and the evidence of their environment, and includes the study of climatological, ecological, geological, geomorphological or pedological factors relevant to understanding the nature or context of those societies or the distribution or nature of their material remains, and “archaeological interest” shall be construed accordingly;

“architectural heritage” means—

(a) structures and buildings together with their settings and attendant grounds, fixtures and fittings,

(b) groups of structures and buildings referred to in paragraph (a), and

(c) sites,

that are of archaeological, architectural, cultural, historic, scientific, social or technical interest;

“architectural history” means the history of architecture, including its cultural, economic and social context;

“art history” means the history of art, including its cultural, economic and social context;

“battlefield” includes—

(a) any area or areas (to the extent (if any) that it or they can be both identified and geographically defined) where the majority of the combat (including any significant military engagement) or related activities of a battle took place, and

(b) any sites or places directly associated with the conduct, command or direction of a battle (including any significant military engagement) or related activities of a battle, whether or not contiguous with or to an area or areas referred to in paragraph (a);

“Board” means the Board of the National Museum of Ireland;

“building” includes—

(a) the trade fixtures, domestic fixtures and ornamental fixtures of the building,

(b) the machinery and equipment fixed or attached to the building, and

(c) any other fixtures of the building;

“chattel” means a chattel of artificial or natural origin (including animal, human or plant remains) and whether or not it has been artificially altered;

“Church Temporalities Commission” means the Commissioners of Church Temporalities in Ireland;

“class” includes a subclass;

“code of practice” has the meaning assigned to it by section 213;

“Commissioners” means the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland;

“company” means—

(a) a company formed and registered under the Act of 2014, or

(b) an existing company;

“consent” means prior consent in writing;

“contiguous zone” shall be construed in accordance with section 12 of the Act of 2021 and, for the purposes of this Act, includes the land underlying such zone;

“copy” means a copy in any form (including electronic form);

“Council” means the body established by section 5 of the Act of 1995 and known as The Heritage Council;

“cultural interest” includes artistic, literary, linguistic or traditional interest;

“Department” means the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage;

“deposit” includes a group, cluster or spread of archaeological objects on, in or under land;

“detection device”—

(a) subject to paragraph (b), means a device designed or adapted for, or capable of being used for, detecting or locating a deposit, feature, metal or mineral underneath the surface of land, and

(b) does not include—

(i) a camera operating in visible wavelengths, or

(ii) equipment the sole function of which is the preparation or compilation of topographical surveys of the surface of land;

“dig” or “excavate” includes augur, bore, core, drill, dredge or tunnel;

“Director” means the Director of the National Museum of Ireland;

“EIA” means environmental impact assessment within the meaning of the EIA Directive;

“EIA Directive” means Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 ^1 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014^2;

“enactment” means—

(a) an Act of the Oireachtas,

(b) a statute that was in force in Saorstát Éireann immediately before the date of coming into operation of the Constitution and that continued in force by virtue of Article 50 of the Constitution, or

(c) an instrument made under an Act of the Oireachtas or a statute referred to in paragraph (b);

“enforcement notice” has the meaning assigned to it by section 193;

“environment” includes climate, landscape, flora and fauna life;

“existing company” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Act of 2014;

“export” means the export or removal from the State of any goods (being things of any kind, whether animate or inanimate) to a place outside the State;

“extent of the territorial application of this Act” shall be construed in accordance with section 4;

“find”, in relation to the finding of a relevant thing of a relevant interest or an archaeological object on, in or under land, or floating on or under any waters, means find within the extent of the territorial application of this Act, and includes—

(a) to expose, uncover or in any way come upon, locate, identify or encounter a relevant thing of a relevant interest or an archaeological object, whether or not during the course of carrying out any works or searching or other activity and whether or not the works, searching or other activity were or was for the purpose of finding relevant things of a relevant interest or archaeological objects, and

(b) to find with or by the use of a camera, detection device or other form of survey or other equipment;

“functional area”, in relation to a local authority, means the functional area, within the meaning of section 198 of the Act of 2001, of the local authority;

“general protection”, in relation to a thing (howsoever described in this Act), means that section 27 applies to the thing pursuant to—

(a) section 21, or

(b) section 23(3);

“geographical area” means any geographical area to which this Act applies by virtue of section 4;

“give”, in relation to a notice or other document that is required to be given to a person under this Act, shall be construed in accordance with section 221;

“Habitats Directive” means Council Directive 92/43/EC of 21 May 1992^3 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora as amended by Council Directive 97/62/EC of 27 October 1997^4, Regulation (EC) No. 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 September 2003^5, Council Directive 2006/105/EC of 20 November 2006^6 and Council Directive 2013/17/EU of 13 May 2013^7;

“Habitats Regulations” means the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 477 of 2011);

“historic” includes historical;

“historic heritage” includes—

(a) archaeological heritage, architectural heritage, landscapes, wrecks one hundred or more years old or otherwise of historic interest and historic objects, and

(b) relevant things of a relevant interest that do not already fall within paragraph (a);

“historic interest” includes association with, or being representative of, historic events, periods, persons, subjects or themes;

“historic object” means a chattel which is of archaeological, architectural, historic or other cultural or scientific interest, and includes—

(a) moveable mechanisms of transport of such interest, and

(b) moveable objects within or associated with relevant things of a relevant interest;

“history” includes architectural, art, economic, military, political, religious, scientific, social or technical history;

“immediate surroundings”, in relation to a monument, means such areas immediately surrounding the monument, in addition to the surrounding area (if any) of the monument, where works, if carried out therein, could adversely affect—

(a) the monument, or

(b) any relevant thing of a relevant interest which, taking into account the type of monument which the monument is, it would be reasonable to consider might be in the vicinity of the monument;

“import” means the import or bringing into the State of goods (being things of any kind, whether animate or inanimate) from a place outside the State;

“internal waters” shall be construed in accordance with section 8 of the Act of 2021;

“Irish vessel” means—

(a) a ship which is an Irish ship within the meaning of—

(i) subject to subparagraph (ii), section 9 of the Mercantile Marine Act 1955, or

(ii) on and from the commencement of section 7 of the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Act 2014, section 33 of that Act,

or

(b) a vessel which is—

(i) not registered under the law of another country, and

(ii) owned by, or leased or chartered to—

(I) an individual resident in the State, or

(II) a company;

“land” includes—

(a) tenements, hereditaments, houses and buildings, land covered by water and any estate, right, title or interest in or over land,

(b) the substratum of land,

(c) the sea bed, and

(d) the substratum of the sea bed;

“land covered by water” includes land normally covered by water and the foreshore within the meaning of section 1 of the Foreshore Act 1933;

“landscape” has the same meaning as it has in Article 1 of the European Landscape Convention done at Florence on 20 October 2000;

“licence” means a licence granted under section 151;

“licensable activity” means an activity or other thing referred to in this Act the doing of which requires, as specified in this Act, a licence;

“local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2001;

“member of the naval service” means a member of the Naval Service of the Defence Forces;

“Minister” means, subject to subsection (7), the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage;

“monument” means—

(a) a registered monument, or

(b) a prescribed monument which is not a registered monument;

“monument to which general protection applies” means—

(a) a registered monument other than a registered monument to which special protection applies pursuant to section 20(1) or 24(1),

(b) a potential Register action monument (section 23) to which general protection applies pursuant to section 23(3), or

(c) a prescribed monument (not being a registered monument);

“monument to which special protection applies” means—

(a) a registered monument to which special protection applies pursuant to section 20(1) or 24(1), or

(b) a potential Register action monument (section 22) to which special protection applies pursuant to section 22(3);

“national monument” has the meaning assigned to it by section 74;

“national monument (LA)” has the meaning assigned to it by section 74;

“national monument (M)” has the meaning assigned to it by section 74;

“National Monuments Acts” means the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014;

“national newspaper” means a newspaper published and circulating generally in the State, whether in hard copy or electronic form, or both;

“new authorisation” means a licence, consent, approval, permission or direction granted, issued or given under this Act;

“officer of the Commissioners” includes—

(a) a civil servant (within the meaning of the Act of 1956), whether established or unestablished, who is assigned to perform duties in the Office of Public Works, and

(b) any person employed by the Commissioners whether on a contract of service or for service;

“officer of the Minister” includes—

(a) a civil servant (within the meaning of the Act of 1956), whether established or unestablished, who is assigned to perform duties in the Department of State of which the Minister has charge, and