Denis Naughten
Question:46 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his plans to increase the level of grant available to refurbish listed buildings. [16026/02]
Written Answers. - Conservation Grants.
Bernard Allen
Question:346 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his plans to reform the grant scheme for refurbishment of listed houses before such houses are closed up in view of the low level of grants available for refurbishment works on listed homes and the fact that many families cannot afford to carry out such works; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17752/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 46 and 346 together.
The conservation grant scheme for protected structures was introduced in 1999. The standard grant is 50% of the approved cost of works subject to a maximum of €13,000. A local authority may, at its discretion, vary this amount downwards, or in exceptional circumstances upwards, subject to a maximum allowable grant of 75% of the cost of the approved cost of works or €25,000 whichever is the lesser. Accordingly, the scheme is not intended to meet the full cost but is designed to assist owners or occupiers of pro tected structures to undertake necessary works to secure their conservation.
The scheme is administered by local authorities who are required to prioritise applications on the basis of a scheme of priorities. This is a statement by the local authority of the criteria that will be used in prioritising grant applications. Each local authority is allocated a fixed amount of funding for grant purposes in each calendar year.
There has been a pattern of under-expenditure on this scheme since its inception. In 2002 my Department made an allocation of €3 million to local authorities under the conservation grant scheme for privately owned protected structures. So far this year a total of €1,189,933 has been drawn down by local authorities in relation to this scheme and I expect the full amount to be drawn down by year end. In addition to the protected structures scheme, funding totalling €974,000 has been made available in 2002 under the Regional Operational Programmes 2000-2006. This is a scheme of EU co-financed grants for the conservation of the architectural heritage. It provides support for local authorities, civic trust and other not for profit bodies to upgrade buildings of significant architectural and heritage merit and which are in public ownership or open to the public generally.