Vol. 510 No. 4
169 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if she will provide a grant of £45,000 to the Genealogical Society of Ireland to restore and refurbish Martello Tower at Seapoint, County Dublin, for use as a genealogical archive and research centre. [22833/99]
In general, my Department does not directly provide financial support for private restoration projects of the type referred to by the Deputy. However, one source of public funds for such heritage projects is the Heritage Council, which has powers to provide advice and assistance, including financial assistance, in relation to the protection, preservation and promotion of the physical heritage. It should be noted that although my Department funds the Heritage Council, which is an independent statutory body established under the Heritage Act 1995, I have no function in relation to any decisions by it regarding the disbursal of grants. I was pleased, however, to be able to increase the funding to the council from £4 million in 1998 to £5.08 million in the current year, an increase of 27 per cent.
In addition, the Deputy will be aware that in May of last year, together with my colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, I launched the package of proposals for the strengthening and protection of the architectural heritage. That package, which is being progressively implemented by both Departments, adopts a comprehensive approach to the protection of our architectural heritage in its many and varied forms, rather than singling out individual aspects of that heritage. As part of the package, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government recently launched a grant scheme for the conservation of protected buildings, which is being administered by local authorities with funding of the order of £4 million per annum. The group referred to by the Deputy may wish to make inquiries with their own local authority in regard to the possibility of applying for grant aid under that scheme.
