Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 3 Feb 1999

Vol. 499 No. 4

Written Answers. - Heritage Sites.

Liz McManus

Question:

47 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the programmes and finance under the auspices of her Department dealing with the refurbishment of heritage sites of national importance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2825/99]

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Miss de Valera)

The reply is in the form of a tabular statement which I propose to circulate in the Official Report.

Financial Programmes for

Restoration/Conservation of Heritage Sites

	No. ofsites	Provision inVote 42 in1999(£m)
ERDF funding under the EU Operational Programme for Tourism 1994-1999	34 (e)	8.586
Exchequer Funded Capital Projects	36 (e)	7.03
National Lottery Funded Projects	3 (e)	1.15

e = estimated

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

48 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the provisions, if any, she has put in place to increase the number of tourists to areas in historical and cultural importance located in the west; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2819/99]

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Miss de Valera)

Dúchas, the heritage service of my Department is responsible for the care of many protected areas in the west, ranging from parks and gardens to national monuments. Although the overriding responsibility is that of conservation, the presentation of heritage sites to the public plays a key part in tourism.

There were six heritage sites open to the public in 1980 in the western counties from Donegal to Kerry, and they attracted 202,000 fee paying visitors in that year. By 1998 the number of such sites open to the public had risen to 22 with visitors to these sites for the first nine months of 1998 amounting to some 754,000.

Much of this increase is due to the considerable capital investment under the tourism operational programme supported by the EU. It also arises from the steady commitment and investment in the guide service at sites and associated promotion of them. For instance in 1999 over two million colour information leaflets have been produced corresponding to the regional tourism areas. The general leaflet, depicting all 62 heritage sites in Ireland, is in five languages and, at a recent meeting between my staff and the regional tourism managers the new leaflets were warmly welcomed. In addition to this my staff are involved in another initiative involving the promotion of heritage sites at trade fairs abroad and the development of a world wide web site on the heritage and cultural institutions. The web site, www.heritageireland.ie, has attracted considerable interest with 22,000 hits in its first two months.

A key element in presenting heritage sites and playing a constructive role in sustainable tourism is to ensure quality service at sites. Market research indicates very high levels of visitor satisfaction at sites managed by Dúchas. For example, the most recent research indicated that 94 per cent of respondents found the guides to be professional or very professional. More intensive market research at sites is planned this year to ensure that these standards are maintained and improved upon.