Vol. 416 No. 3
50 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Limerick Market Trustees have applied for support from the EC under the European architectural heritage pilot schemes, for their project of restoration of the Milk Market/Cornmarket Row, Limerick; if he will support this application; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I have established from the Office of Public Works that an application has been submitted in respect of this project to the EC under the scheme Support of Pilot Projects to Conserve the European Architectural Heritage. The scheme is an annual competition for limited grant-aid; the competition is open to all projects situated in any member state.
The decision on awarding grants rests solely with the EC on the basis of their own assessment of the various applications submitted. They are helped in this process by an international jury of experts in the area of the architectural heritage.
The role of the Office of Public Works is to examine a copy of each application submitted and to give their opinions to the European Commission. The Office of Public Works support every Irish project which fulfils the criteria laid down under the scheme. While the Office of Public Works have not yet finalised their response to this year's applications, the Limerick milk market project appears to fulfil these criteria.
