The controversial Carrickmines site in Dublin has been subject to the same assessment and consideration as any other archaeological site, according to the heritage service Dúchas.
The site has been fully excavated over the last two years and that excavation is continuing, said Mr Brian Duffy, a senior archaeologist with with the national roads division of Dúchas. Mr Duffy said the service did not have the time or resources to attend oral hearings about planning appeals every day. He was speaking at a seminar at the weekend on the archaeology uncovered in Louth and Meath during the construction of the Bord Gáis pipeline and the M1 motorway and the archaeological implications of the proposed M3 motorway.
He also agreed with Ms Mary Deevy, project archaeologist with the National Roads Authority that environmental impact statements, compiled for proposed routes such as the M3 could be improved. Ms Deevy said: "We try to improve them all the time." Both archaeologists were responding to criticisms about the failure of the statements to address issues such as cultural heritage and land ethics.
The NRA was also criticised by Dr Eamon Kelly, keeper of antiquities with the National Museum of Ireland, for attempting to limit the museum's input and access to information on road excavations.
He said this "amounted to an attempt to limit the museum's ability to perform its statutory role, which we cannot accept".
The museum, Dúchas and the NRA devised a code of practice relating to archaeology as a result of excavation of new roads. The museum pressed urgently for operational guidelines for project archaeologists and others working on roads and, according to Mr Kelly, the NRA "at extremely short notice raised objections to the proposed role of the national museum.
"In effect the NRA sought to exclude the museum from the information loop.
"It is regrettable that the code of practice with the NRA is being operated without any agreed guidelines being in place to inform the operation of the NRA project archaeologists."