Vol. 534 No. 3
260 Mr. P. Carey asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the Asgard is lying unsecured and unprotected in the car park at the Point Depot; if she will clarify the time frame for its restoration; the measures the restoration committee will have to put in place to protect the vessel; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10675/01]
The Asgard is owned by the Minister for Defence who agreed to the removal of the vessel from Kilmainham Gaol, where it had been located since 1979, by the Asgard Restoration Project, ARP. My Department raised no objection to this conditional on appropriate accommodation and suitable insurance cover being provided and subject to the National Museum of Ireland being satisfied with the accommodation.
The "housing" of the Asgard has recently been examined by officials of the National Museum of Ireland. The ARP has been verbally advised that the current accommodation is most unsatisfactory and a formal notice to this effect is being issued to the ARP. The “Licence to Alter” issued by my Department in respect of the Asgard, requires the Asgard Restoration Project to provide the director of the National Museum of Ireland, with a detailed proposal or work schedule in relation to the proposed work of alteration. It is also a condition of the licence that access is provided to the National Museum of Ireland to inspect work in progress. This work has not yet commenced.
I understand that a schedule for the work involved will not be prepared until after the Asgard Restoration Project has raised the additional private funding necessary to carry out the restoration. In the meantime the location of the Asgard is primarily a matter for the vessel's owner, the Minister for Defence.
