Dúchas, sometimes Dúchas: The Heritage Service, was an executive agency of the

Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth ( ga, An Roinn Leanaí, Comhionannais, Míchumais, Lánpháirtíochta agus Óige) is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Children, Equal ...

of the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...

responsible for

Heritage management Cultural heritage management (CHM) is the vocation and practice of managing cultural heritage. It is a branch of cultural resources management (CRM), although it also draws on the practices of cultural conservation, restoration, museology, archae ...

, including: * natural heritage (including responsibility for the management of national parks and wildlife) * built heritage (including

national monuments National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

and historic properties). The agency was established under the Heritage Act 1995 and abolished in 2003 after coming under criticism for restricting development. Its status as an executive agency gave it no separate legal existence and it could be easily abolished without

primary legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislature, legislative and executive (government), executive branches of ...

, although the abolition was not without controversy. Natural heritage has since been protected by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (initially under the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government). Some other functions, such as the protection of historic monuments, reverted to being part of the

Office of Public Works The Office of Public Works (OPW) ( ga, Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of ow ...

. Since 2020, built and natural heritage have been under the remit of the

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage ( ga, An Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta) is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage who is ...

References

External links

Department of Housing, Local Government and HeritageNational Parks & Wildlife ServiceOffice of Public Works
Defunct government agencies of Ireland 1995 establishments in Ireland 2003 disestablishments in Ireland {{Ireland-org-stub