Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 June 2026
332. Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the details of updated costs for each local authority to employ an archaeologist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46700/26]
View answer334. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated cost of recruiting one full-time professional archaeologist for every local authority area in the State. [46827/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 332 and 334 together.
Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible.
My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of local government sector employment levels. To this end, my Department gathers aggregate quarterly data on staff numbers in each local authority on a whole time equivalent basis. However, granular data, in terms of the specific role and function of each individual staff member is not collected and consequently is not available in my Department. Information as to the number of archaeologists currently employed would be available from individual local authorities.
The salary scale for an archaeologist in the local government sector ranges from €60,858 to €84,596.
