Written Answers. - National Monuments.
Billy Timmins
Question:
50
Mr. Timmins
asked the
Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands
if she has had discussions with the Heritage Council regarding its recent report on the condition of some historical monuments; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[15626/01]
Austin Deasy
Question:
80
Mr. Deasy
asked the
Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands
when the report from the Heritage Council will become available to Members of Dáil Éireann.
[15785/01]
Brian O'Shea
Question:
82
Mr. O'Shea
asked the
Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands
the action she intends to take arising from the warning contained in the recent report from the Heritage Council which said that one third of the State's 27,000 stone structures and monuments were significantly damaged or suffering neglect; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[15722/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 50, 80 and 82 together.
The Heritage Council's report on stone monuments is being examined in my Department at present and I anticipate that my officials will be making arrangements to meet with representatives of the council to discuss it and other issues.
The report needs to be put in a context. For example, stone monuments are by their nature, largely ruinous and have in most cases been in decay for many hundreds of years. It must also be remembered that when the State first became involved in the preservation of monuments in the middle of the 19th century and indeed up to quite recent times, the practices and materials used in the conservation of monuments were understood at the time to be best conservation practice. It is only in recent decades that the damage caused by the likes of portland cement-based mortars has become apparent. Nevertheless, as the report indicates, even the use of cement may have arrested the structural decay of some of our monuments, particularly those of the harder limestone construction. This is an inherited problem and even with best conservation practice, which is slow and painstaking by its nature, the problems will not be remedied overnight.
The rate of decay relates to the type of stone used in the construction so that, for example, soft sandstone monuments are more affected than limestone monuments. This is particularly true in the case of the finer carved detailing on many of the sites assessed in the report. Intensive damage is often caused by higher vegetal species such as ivy and trees but the remedy does not require costly specialist interventions.
The report assesses only 112 monuments but there are over 120,000 monuments in the State. Furthermore it is not safe to assume until the report is examined in detail that up to 27,000 stone structures and monuments are significantly damaged or suffering neglect.
In November last year I announced a major investment of over £100 million in the built heritage under the national development plan, which included an unprecedented level of commitment to the conservation of national monuments in the care of the State. Given the above context I should emphasise that the State, through Dúchas the Heritage Service of my Department, has been to the fore in stone conservation practice in caring for the 740 monuments in State ownership.
The Heritage Council published the report and, although it is a statutorily independent body, I will ask them to forward a copy to the Oireachtas Library to be available to the Deputies.
