The Green Party has called on the Government to explain why the director of the National Museum, Dr Pat Wallace, was advised not to attend an Oireachtas Committee hearing on the routing of the M3 motorway through the Tara archaeological complex.
The party's environment spokesman, Mr Ciarán Cuffe, said he had seen a letter to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment in which Dr Wallace said senior officials in the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism had advised him not to attend a hearing today.
Conservationists and certain local campaigners are set against the plans, arguing the proposed motorway route will irrevocably damage part of the complex.
While archaeologists working for the National Roads Authority have identified nearly 40 separate archaeological sites along the controversial section of the route, the authority has said these are not of sufficient significance to necessitate a rerouting.
Mr Cuffe said he had been hoping to ask Dr Wallace to comment on the archaeological importance of the site and the impact on it of the proposed motorway.
He said Dr Wallace told the committee in a letter yesterday that officials in the Department advised him that his appearance would be inappropriate "at this time" given his role as a statutory officer mentioned in the National Monuments Act.
Dr Wallace was not available to comment last night.
However, Government sources said it was their understanding that he had expressed willingness to take up the committee's invitation after he had discharged his statutory obligations under the Act to advise the Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche.
Mr Cuffe said he was not convinced that the director's statutory powers prevented him from public comment at this time on the motorway plans.
He alleged that Dr Wallace had been "gagged" by the Government.
In the Dáil yesterday, Labour's environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore, was ruled out of order when he attempted to ask the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, whether the Government "instructed senior State officials not to appear before a committee".
Mr Gilmore said last night that the Government had a "predetermined agenda" to proceed with the M3 route adopted by the National Roads Authority. "It's to hell with Tara and to hell with heritage," he said.
