The Estimate for Public Works and Buildings in the Book of Estimates follows the conventional lay-out but it includes, in an appendix, particulars of the expenditure on the various services provided by the office, gathered together under the respective programme headings. I propose to deal with this year's Estimate on the basis of this programme format.
Programme 1 covers the commissioners' functions in regard to the provision and upkeep of premises for State purposes. A sum of £66,020,000 is sought for this programme in 1986.
The largest single part of the programme relates to new building works. It includes the construction of modern purpose-designed buildings and the refurbishment of old buildings which have become obsolete relative to modern standards and requirements. In the national plan, Building on Reality, a real commitment has been given to the continuation of this policy. The investment involved will not alone generate useful employment in the construction industry but will also increase the capital stock of the State. A sum of £21,395,000 is sought for this purpose in 1986.
In the current year works will commence on the restoration and development of part of the Upper Yard of Dublin Castle. The works to be undertaken will provide badly needed additional accommodation and will involve also the provision of a new conference hall facility which will not only fulfil future EC requirements but will be marketed internationally by the Convention Bureau of Ireland. The facility is expected to generate a significant increase in the number of conferences to be held in this country with a consequential increase in tourism-related earnings. The commissioners are aware at all times of the importance of the conservation element of the works undertaken and endeavour to meet their responsibilities in this regard within the financial and other constraints imposed on them. The adaptation of the former Jacobs premises in Bishop Street as new centralised headquarters for the Stationery Office will be completed this year.
Building for the Department of Justice forms a significant part of the OPW building programme. New or improved accommodation for the Garda accounts for £4.9 million of this programme. Work is in progress on 31 projects under the Garda building programme including new district headquarters at Dungarvan, Killarney, Swinford and Roxboro Road, Limerick and major extensions at Sligo, Oughterard and Carrickmacross. Construction of a new Garda station in Tallaght is also in progress and plans are in hand for new divisional headquarters at Ennis and Naas and new district headquarters at Trim, Tramore, Lucan and Ashbourne. We would hope to commence most if not all of these major projects in the current year.
Work has commenced on a further stage of the Garda Headquarters at the Depot in the Phoenix Park which will house various services, including the Forensic Unit. Restoration of the facade and roof of part of the Clock Block has been carried out and major works are planned for the former Talbot garage site in Santry which will cater for garage services and other industrial type operations, including storage at present housed in cramped conditions at the depot and elsewhere.
Temporary accommodation for a children's court was provided in 1985 at Smithfield, Dublin, and the OPW have now placed a contract for a permanent building nearby. The construction of a new building for court staff at Inns Quay on the site of the former Four Courts Hotel is expected to be completed in December this year, three months ahead of schedule.
I should say that some of our young architects received commendations for their designs this year — one for a laboratory in Abbotstown, Dublin, for the Department of Agriculture, and one for a special project at Killykeen Forest Park, County Cavan, undertaken on behalf of the Department of Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry. In addition, I am delighted that the Europa Nostra Organisation has recognised the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, as one of Europe's great architectural restoration achievements and has bestowed its premier award on the project. Another building, the Glebe Gallery in Donegal, which houses the Derek Hill Collection, was specially commended by the Irish Museums Trust in the Museum of the Year Award in 1985.
Work is in progress on the restoration of the stonework of the Custom House, Dublin.
The obligation of the OPW to provide and maintain various embassy premises abroad is ongoing and this year will see the completion and occupation of a new purpose built embassy premises in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This project became necessary in order to comply with the mandatory transfer of diplomatic missions from Jeddah. Members of the design team are Irish and the work is being carried out by an Irish firm operating in the area.
Copies of the new works list have been circulated to Deputies. I have highlighted some of the major building projects being undertaken by the commissioners and do not propose to go through the full list. If any Deputy has a query relating to a particular project I will try to cover it in my reply and, if not, forward the information later.
There are other substantial items of expenditure in Programme 1. For instance, rents on leased accommodation will amount to £19,527,000 in 1986 while repairs and maintenance are expected to cost £13,998,000. Also, a provision of £8,700,000 will be needed for fuel, light and other charges. The commissioners at present carry these costs in respect of all Civil Service accommodation but they are of the view that paying rental, fuel and electricity charges for space occupied by other Departments does not encourage efficient use of accommodation and they are consulting with the Department of Finance on proposals to change this arrangement.
I turn now to arterial drainage which is the subject of Programme 2. Many times in the past few years this subject has been raised in the House, with particular reference to the review of arterial drainage which the Government directed should be undertaken. I am happy to report that the review has been completed by the commissioners and has been forwarded to the Minister for Finance.
For the present, I will deal with arterial drainage requirements in 1986. A total of £13,890,000 is required for the survey, design, construction and maintenance of arterial drainage schemes.
The collection and analysis of hydrometric data on many rivers throughout the country will continue to furnish valuable information on the country's water resources. In addition to providing essential material for the execution of the arterial drainage programme, these records are an important repository of information, providing valuable data for project planners requiring a knowledge of water quantities and flows in our rivers. The cost of undertaking drainage surveys will be £290,000 in 1986.
Specialist studies being undertaken in the Dunkellin-Lavally catchments, which were delayed by the extremely bad weather conditions last summer and the resulting high water levels, will be completed this year.
The formalities in bringing the Boyne scheme to completion are in hand and the Maigue and Corrib-Mask-Robe schemes are also expected to be completed in 1986. Works on the Boyle and Bonet schemes will continue for some time. A sum of £9,250,000 has been provided for arterial drainage construction works and EC aid will again be available this year to help defray the cost involved. Details of the EC aid are given in Programme 9.
Deputies will be aware of the importance which successive Governments have attached to cross-Border co-operation. The arterial drainage programme has been instrumental in giving practical effect to this ideal. For a number of years now the drainage authorities, on both sides of the Border, have collaborated in the preparation of a cross-Border programme. In 1984, works commenced in Northern Ireland on the main channel of the Ulster Monaghan-Blackwater and, last year, works on the channels in the Republic got underway. The momentum of this scheme will increase during the coming year and will continue for a number of years to come. The scheme is being financed by the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom with aid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund.
The commissioners have a statutory obligation to maintain completed drainage schemes "in proper repair and effective condition". Four million, three hundred and fifty thousand pounds is required to fulfil this responsibility in 1986. The significant increase in the provision sought for maintenance works is largely accounted for by the fact that the Boyne scheme has reached completion and from now on will be included in the maintenance programme.
The cost of maintenance of completed arterial drainage schemes is recoverable by the Office of Public Works from the relevant county councils.
Programme 3 is concerned with marine works and will cost £1,970,000.
A sum of £140,000 is required for ongoing maintenance of coast protection schemes completed by the commissioners pursuant to the Coast Protection Act, 1963. The bulk of this year's sum will be expended at Rosslare Strand, thankfully, where, in very difficult circumstances the Office of Public Works have been successful in maintaining the existing sea defences and preventing the erosion of valuable property. This expenditure is also recoverable from the county councils involved.
Most of the £240,000 required for new harbour facilities will be used at Roonagh, County Mayo, where work is proceeding on a project involving the provision of a new pier, an access road and a car parking area. The completion of this project, scheduled for 1987, should confer a very considerable benefit on the locality. The maintenance and operation of the various State harbours will cost £1,626,000.
Programme 4 covers the purchase and maintenance of plant and machinery used on arterial drainage and marine works and will cost £1,675,000 this year.
Ireland's national parks and monuments are the subject of Programme 5, for which £7,602,000 is sought. Conservation of national monuments in State care is one of the statutory responsibilities of the commissioners and this year major projects are in progress at some 40 national monument sites throughout Ireland.
The provision of visitor centres at our better known monuments is now a major undertaking. Each year we try to expand the service and this year we will be providing a guide service at Mellifont Abbey for the first time. Last year, £357,000 people paid for admission to national monuments and the Rock of Cashel, with over £113,000 admissions, attracted the largest number of visitors.
I hope that work will start very shortly on the construction of a new visitor centre at Glendalough. This is an extremely popular national monument but the absence of an interpretive centre has meant that visitors could not obtain a full appreciation of its importance. Interpretation is the key to conservation and this new centre at Glendalough will be an exciting addition to our existing interpretive services. Site with visitor facilities also provide an outlet for the sale of our postcards and information brochures on national monuments.
A new colour booklet on the Rock of Cashel is with the printer and there will be a further extension of the range of postcards available to visitors this year. In 1985, the commissioners introduced a booklet entitled Irish Field Monuments which provides detailed information with suitable illustrations on various types of field monuments, which could be in danger of destruction. The booklet was aimed at the young people of Ireland to make them aware of the diversity of their heritage of monuments and sites of archaeological importance and of the absolute need to ensure that that heritage is safeguarded for future generations. The booklets were sent to every school in the country and the overall response and resultant interest shown has been very heartening. The booklet, which is being sold at the cost price of 50p each, was designed also to assist people involved in farm improvement schemes and other development works, such as the building industry, to enable them to identify ancient sites and monuments and to prevent their destruction. The initial print of £50,000 copies of the booklet has already been widely distributed and there have been many orders from abroad and it now looks as if a reprint will be required before long.
Large scale archaeological excavations are being undertaken at Dublin Castle which will cost £300,000 this year. These excavations have been very fruitful and have allowed us to reconstruct a thousand years of the history of this corner of Dublin. Grants for research purposes totalling £30,000 are being made available under a scheme operated in consultation with the Royal Irish Academy.
The archaeological survey of the State continues to make steady progress. So far, site and monuments records for Counties Louth, Monaghan and Westmeath have been published and similar records are expected to be published this year for eight other counties. The remaining counties will be completed as soon as possible.
This year will see a major step forward in the archaeological survey with the publication by the commissioners of an inventory of County Louth, the first to be completed. This is the stage following the sites and monuments record and will give a three or four line description of the archaeological sites in a county together with locational maps. It will be in the form of a hardbacked book which will be on sale through the Government Publications Office next month and which, I am sure, will be of great interest to all concerned with the preservation of our national heritage. It is expected that inventories for Counties Meath and Monaghan will be published later this year.
A survey of the medieval and plantation towns of Ireland is also progressing steadily and reports on the urban archaeology of Counties Louth, Meath, Longford and Westmeath as well as an individual report on Cork city have been completed and presented to the relevant planning authorities by the commissioners. Reports on Counties Laois and Offaly, together with a summary report on Dublin city will be completed next month and County Kildare will be completed in the summer. The programme for the urban archaeological survey envisages completion of the fieldwork in the rest of the country during the year, with the finalisation of reports continuing through 1987. These surveys are a necessary prerequisite to proper planning for the conservation of our built heritage.
It is clear from the progress being made with all of the archaeological surveys that we are on the right course to ensure the preservation of the nation's archaeological sites and monuments for present and future generations.
Ireland's national parks are among the 3,000 protected areas worldwide listed by the United Nations and the conservation of these areas is in accordance with internationally recognised criteria.
Killarney National Park was expanded in the past year with the addition of the lands and Upper Lake purchased from the estate of the late Mrs. Beatrice Grosvenor. This property of over 4,000 acres forms part of the red deer range and it is of critical importance that it be preserved free from exploitation. I would like to pay tribute to Mrs. Grosvenor's nephew, Mr. Dawney, for the manner in which he approached the disposal of these lands. Glenveagh National Park had its first full season in 1985 and attracted almost 55,000 visitors and I expect that the new visitor centre containing a magnificent lecture theatre, restaurant and exhibition area will be opened this summer together with Glenveagh Castle. The development works at Glenveagh have been part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
Other welcome developments in our national parks in 1986 will be the opening of an audio-visual theatre and show at Connemara National Park and the launch of exhibitions at Knockreer House in Killarney which will be opened to the public.
The parks organisation provides for the integrated management of the national parks and of national historic parks and gardens to their mutual advantage. The commissioners are preparing management plans for each of the parks and gardens in their care and the first such plan to be produced will be for the Phoenix Park. This plan, which I will be launching shortly, will classify the Phoenix Park as a national historic park and outline the management policies which the commissioners hope will be adhered to in the future management of this important property. A five year programme of tree planting is already under way. It will conform broadly to the original landscape design and it is envisaged that 20,000 trees will have been planted by the end of the programme.
This year will see further welcome developments at the historic parks and gardens. Visitor facilities are being improved at Garinish Island by the provision of an information centre and toilets and the restoration of the Casita. A guide service will be inaugurated this summer. Plans are also at an advanced stage for the provision of improved visitor facilities, including an audio visual show at Derrynane national historic park which had over 10,000 visitors last year. The publication of a booklet entitled Scoil Eanna — The story of an Educational Adventure will add to the interpretive programme at St. Enda's.
I have dwelt at some length on the national parks and monuments managed by the commissioners. Their conservation efforts have rightly been recognised and the developments this year emphasise the continuing progress that is being made in the provision of facilities to enable the public to appreciate and enjoy them.
Expenditure on Shannon navigation is covered in the programme for waterways, Programme 6. The Shannon supports a thriving tourist industry but the ever increasing numbers using the navigation has meant increasing demands on facilities. The commissioners have kept pace with such demands by not only maintaining the highest standards on existing navigation works such as harbours, quays, locks, sluices, pumping stations etc., at a cost this year of £629,000, but also by carrying out substantial development works. These improvements, which will cost £110,000 this year, include the completion of a new jetty at Clonmacnoise together with the commencement of work on an extension to the harbour at Lecarrow and a new quay at Galey Bay.
The commissioners' responsibilities in regard to waterways are soon to be extended. Deputies will be aware of the recent enactment of the legislation to enable the Grand and Royal Canals to be transferred to the commissioners from CIE. When final preparations are completed, the Minister for Communications will appoint a vesting day to effect the transfer. I am delighted to welcome this development and I look forward to the challenge of managing and developing this substantial property as an amenity for the enjoyment and recreation of the public. We should remember also that the canals are, of course, an important part of our physical environment both in the countryside and especially in Dublin. It is my hope that all recreational opportunities afforded by the canals will be fully exploited by the public. These include not just pleasure cruising but also fishing, canoeing, long distance walking, nature study and passive recreation by local communities, especially in the context of the concept of the canals as linear parks.
To assist the Commissioners in the preparation of an integrated management and development plan the services of an experienced firm of planning consultants were retained to carry out a study of the waterway. This study is already well advanced and is due for completion at the end of this year. The present Estimate does not include provision for the canals but arrangements will be made in due course to give the commissioners the necessary funds to cover their outgoings from vesting day to the end of the year.
Programme 7 relates to the President's household staff. The amount sought is £77,000.
The administration of the office is the subject of Programme 8, for which £14,233,000 is required. This includes salaries and wages, official travel, staff training and development and office expenses. One area of this programme which I am particularly interested in highlighting is the ongoing upgrading of the computer facilities of the office. Two mini-computers have been purchased by the OPW and, in keeping with the country's expanding reputation in the technological field, both computers were made in Ireland.
A three dimensional computer aided architectural design and draughting system, the first of its kind in Ireland, has been installed in three architectural sections on a pilot basis. It has been used in the design of the Dublin Castle restoration and conference centre project and, I understand, it is most unlikely that the very demanding schedule for this project could have been met without the computer. It has also been used for design of Garda stations and for a number of office building and fitting out projects.
A number of portable micro-computers are being used to record archaeological finds on the Dublin Castle digs and to produce the sites and monuments records. Over the next 18 months, computer facilities will be extended to direct works sites and architectural district offices and it is also hoped to introduce electronic mail in head office this year.
The final programme, Programme 9, covers income into Vote 10 and in the current year receipts of £14,423,000 are expected. I have already mentioned the major sources of this income as relating to arterial drainage construction and maintenance works. Details of the remaining varied sources of income are contained in the programme.
As well as the activities which I have outlined, it is worthy of mention that the office also undertake works such as the construction of prisons and the provision of facilities in the fishery interests, which are not financed out of Vote 10. I will be happy to note any comments on the Office of Public Works Estimate made by Deputies and, during the course of my reply, I will endeavour to deal with the matters raised.
