Legislation is needed to preserve existing landscapes and to avoid creating new landscapes of poor quality, the Green Party has said.
Introducing a discussion paper on the need for a national landscape policy in the State, Mr Trevor Sargent TD said a legislative framework would allow the relevant authorities within society to become creators and curators of quality landscapes.
This policy would formally recognise the importance of landscape quality and promote the principles of good landscape management through all levels of administration.
Such a policy would have several objectives, including the need for a working definition of "landscape" that would apply regionally and throughout the State.
Other objectives include: publication of a set of national landscape guidance documents; completion of an inventory of the State's landscape heritage, comparable to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage; the giving of statutory protection for landscapes of regional or greater importance; and the drawing up of a list of landscapes of high quality, in addition to the listed buildings already identified.
Another objective recommends the Government be advised on the effects EU designations will have on a landscape. These designations include Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs).