Duchas, the Heritage Service, has warned that a lack of resources and staff Duchas, agency charged with the protection of our national heritage is placing the character of many cities in the Republic at risk.
The service said last night that urban heritage was in crisis due to a rapid increase in developments in towns and cities in recent years which Duchas cannot police because of staff shortages.
The archaeological planning section of Duchas, with a staff of just five, is now dealing with almost 4,000 planning applications referred by local authorities each year. The number of applications has doubled in three years.
Staff are stretched to the limit with these applications, half of which are in urban areas. Then they also have to comment on county development plans, environmental impact assessments and integrated area plans.
"Quite simply, it is a case of too few people with too little time trying to do too much with facilities and a structure that are wholly inadequate for current development activity," said Mr Michael Star rett, chief executive of the council.
"While Government and EU policies have encouraged development in town centres, insufficient resources have been provided for conservation, which would have placed a higher value on heritage aspects of development."
A policy document, Urban Archaeology and the National Heritage, was launched in Dublin yesterday by the heritage council in which the crisis is highlighted.
Emphasising the impact which urban development is having on archaeology, it says: "It is not only profoundly affecting the character of our towns and cities, but is impacting on the ability of State and local services to manage all archaeology". It sets out 54 detailed recommendations designed to turn the situation around and safeguard the heritage of urban communities.
Recommendations include the provision of adequate resources for Duchas, the National Museum and regional and local planning authorities to fulfil their responsibilities in relation to preservation of heritage; greater consistency of policy and practice among planning authorities; measures to improve archaeological risk management for developers and better storage facilities for archives and finds.