Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 1428: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the status of a designation (details supplied) in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29697/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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In April 2008, I announced my Department's UNESCO world heritage programme for the coming years. The objective of this programme is the identification and inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List of those Irish heritage sites deemed to be of outstanding universal value. Key initiatives of the programme include the preparation of UNESCO World Heritage Site nominations for Clonmacnoise and for the Burren as well as the development of a new tentative list setting out an inventory of the sites which it would be intended to consider for nomination for inscription on the World Heritage List.

Significant work, including the development of a management plan for the Burren, will have to be undertaken as part of the preparation of the nomination for the Burren. Consultation with all relevant stakeholders and interested parties will be an integral part of the nomination process.

Work on progressing the nomination of the Burren for inscription as a World Heritage Site will be brought forward in the context of the prioritisation of the constituent elements of my Department's UNESCO world heritage programme with a view to submission of the nomination as soon as is practicable.