Cuireann sé áthas orm an Bille tábhachtach seo a chur ós comhair an tSeanaid inniu. Is cinnte go bhféachfar ar an mBille seo sna blianta atá romhainn mar Bhille stairiúil; Bille a dtéann i ngleic leis an ngá atá ann cosaint cuimsitheach a thabhairt d'ár n-oidhreacht.
From ancient time architecture has been called the mother of arts. The architecture of any society or any age tells us much about the economic and social life of that age. It also tells us about the technology and aesthetics of the age of the society from which it comes. Our buildings are the greatest physical representation of our history and our cultural past. It follows from this that every generation carries a great onus of responsibility to ensure that its built inheritance is preserved and passed on to future generations having, of course, added its own architectural increment.
While legislation in this country for the protection of ancient buildings and monuments has generally been regarded as strong and effective, the legislation governing other buildings of architectural merit has not been as effective as it should be in preserving such buildings from the pressure of the modern age.
No one would now deny that there have been serious lapses in our national performance in this respect. Unfortunately, once lapses are made in this area they cannot be rectified. There is widespread agreement that we need to put in place a much more effective regime if we are to properly fulfil our responsibility to our own and future generations to protect our architectural heritage from the threats posed to it, threats that can range from a lack of resources to carelessness, ignorance and greed.
The Government's programme contains a commitment to introduce up-dated and consolidated planning laws to prepare for the challenges of the new millennium. This Bill on the architectural heritage represents the first stage in meeting that commitment. I plan to follow it up with a comprehensive consolidated planning Bill, the heads of which I plan to bring to Government shortly.
This new regime, decided on by Government for the protection of our architectural heritage, can be said to comprise three pillars: modern, robust, comprehensive legislation, dedicated financial resources and the employment of adequate expertise and knowledge. The first pillar consists of this planning Bill, which will transform the legislative protection afforded to the architectural heritage. It has been drafted following comprehensive consultation and consideration of all issues involved. Many of the provisions derive from the report of the interdepartmental working group on strengthening and protecting the architectural heritage which reported in September 1996. The committee had consulted widely before reporting and many observations were received following publication of the report. The Bill expands and improves on the working group's recommendations.
The Bill will introduce a systematic approach to the protection of buildings in Ireland. Local authorities have been criticised in the past for widely divergent approaches for listing buildings for protection in their development plans. Some local authorities have comprehensive lists, others have none; some have one list while others have six or seven.
Distinctions are often made between objectives to preserve buildings and objectives to consider their preservation. The Bill will bring uniformity to the way in which buildings are protected in the future. The formal record of protected structures created under the Bill will be kept in a standard format common to all local authorities. The Bill will also remove the distinctions between lists. If a building is worth placing on the record of protected structures then it is worth protecting.
This new systematic approach to protecting built heritage will be enhanced by using the resources of the national inventory of architectural heritage, which is administered by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. The inventory will be used as a national database to record Ireland's built environment. It is intended that those buildings which are identified by the inventory as being of international, national or regional significance will be recommended to the local authorities for protection.
Local authorities will continue to have an ongoing role in identifying buildings for protection independently of the inventory. They will have to determine the buildings which are of significance to the local community and, therefore, deserving of protection. Guidance will be given to the local authorities to help them carry out these functions in a consistent manner.
Once buildings are identified for protection they will be subject to comprehensive protection. The protection extended to buildings under the Planning and Development Act, 1963, was too narrow and many interiors have been lost because they were not specifically listed. This Bill will ensure that where a building is protected the whole building, interior and curtilage, will be subject to that protection.
Any works which would affect the character of the building will require planning permission. I recognise that this proposal could be quite onerous on owners of protected buildings. Therefore, the Bill provides that owners and occupiers of protected buildings will be entitled to a declaration from the planning authority which would determine the types of works which the planning authority considers would affect the character of the building.
Another key issue in providing comprehensive protection is the need to protect buildings independently of the statutory five year review of development plans. The Bill, therefore, facilitates the addition of buildings to the record of protected buildings as the need arises. Furthermore, the Bill tackles the issue of protected buildings being allowed to fall into dilapidation due to the neglect of the owner or occupier and will allow local authorities take a proactive role in ensuring protected buildings do not become neglected and are modelled on the Derelict Sites Act, 1990. We have had a number of very infamous cases where this was allowed to happen in the past but this Bill will ensure that it can no longer happen.
The Bill also responds to the need to identify and make provision in development plans for special streetscapes or other areas of interest which need to be protected. This will allow planning authorities to apply local planning policies to these areas in a way that will ensure that any development is compatible with the character of the area. For example, this will facilitate protection of a whole square rather than just individual buildings.
I accept that legislation in itself is not sufficient to ensure the protection of the built heritage, it needs to be backed by resources. This brings me to the second pillar — money. The Government announced last May that it would provide a new budget line of £5 million per annum from 1999 onwards to ensure that the package of measures can be fully implemented. Out of this around £4 million will be available for grant aid for protected buildings.
The new scheme of grant aid will be administered by the principal local authorities as it is the local authorities who will have the statutory function of protecting buildings under this Bill. An advisory group made up of representatives from my Department, the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, the Heritage Council and the County and City Managers' Association is finalising recommendations on the detailed terms and conditions of the new grant scheme for protected structures. We are aiming for effective and consistent administration of grant aid throughout the country. I expect that, in the initial years at least, those buildings most at risk will be a priority.
Local authorities are also being provided with £300,000 per annum to assist them in employing the necessary conservation expertise to ensure that all buildings worthy of listing are identified, the legislation enforced and the grant scheme operated effectively. Coupled with the major increase in general funding for local authorities which I am making available next year, this allocation should enable the local government service to employ 15 to 20 conservation officers. This new cadre of conservation experts will constitute part of the third pillar — the expertise about which I spoke earlier.
The provision of proper conservation advice is fundamental to the success of this Bill. I am certain, therefore, that the deployment of conservation expertise in the local authority service will bring such expertise to local authorities and will enhance it where it already exists. This local expertise will in turn be backed up by comprehensive guidelines drawn up at central level by Dúchas, the heritage service, in consultation with my Department. Dúchas will also act as a central unit providing day-to-day advice to conservation officers and local authorities regarding their functions. This system will bring a consistency of approach to the conservation of the built environment in Ireland which has been lacking up to now.
I will now turn briefly to the main provisions of the Bill. Senators have available a very comprehensive explanatory memorandum so I will concentrate on the essential features. The definitions of structure and protected structure in section 1 are crucial to the understanding of the Bill. The effect of these definitions is that when a building is included in the record of protected structures, the interior of the protected structure, including its fixtures and features and the land and structures immediately around it — the curtilage — will be automatically protected and will no longer require specific listing. This marks a major advance on the present limited provisions. Other features in the grounds of the structure beyond the curtilage, for example, a folly or an ornamental fountain, which add to the architectural interest of the building may also be included for protection if specifically identified on the record. It should also be noted that the term "protected structure" as a legal term will replace the term "listed building". This is in line with common international practice.
Section 2 provides that planning authorities will be obliged to have a record of structures of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, scientific, social or technical interest which will form part of the development plan for the area. This constitutes a wider definition of architectural heritage than the reference to buildings of "artistic, historic or architectural interest" in the existing legislation. The record of protected structures will continue in existence even where a review or a variation of a new development plan is carried out under Part III of the 1963 Act.
The requirement to set up a record is linked to the mandatory provision to include objectives in the development plan for the protection of the architectural heritage which is provided by the amendment of section 19 of the Planning Act, 1963, by section 33 of this Bill. This amendment in section 33 also obliges planning authorities to include objectives in the development plan to protect groups of structures and places, including townscapes.
Section 3 provides that the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands may, after consulting with the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, issue guidelines to planning authorities to assist them in carrying out their functions under this Bill in protecting buildings and townscapes. Again, the guidelines will ensure that a consistent approach to protecting the built heritage is adopted nationwide.
Section 4 provides that in addition to the above guidelines, the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands may recommend the inclusion of particular structures in the record of protected structures. This will be based on the information contained in the National Inventory of the Architectural Heritage.
Section 5 provides that a planning authority may add a building to the record of protected structures where it considers that such a building warrants protection or may delete a structure where protection is no longer warranted. The making of a deletion from, or an addition to, the record of protected structures may be carried out when reviewing the development plan as part of the statutory five year review or in accordance with provisions laid down in section 6.
Section 6 sets out the procedure for amending the record of protected structures independently of the development plan review process. This will allow buildings to be protected as the need arises without having to wait for the five year development plan review process — a weak point of the old system. The final decision on what structures are to be accorded protected status will rest with the elected members of the authority.
Section 8 provided that planning permission will be required for any works on a protected structure which affect its character. As the new protection will now extend to the interior of structures permission may, therefore, be required for interior decorating activity, like plastering, if it would affect the character of the structure. However, in order to clarify for owners and occupiers of protected structures exactly what works they are permitted to do without permission, they may request the local authority to indicate those works in a declaration. For example, a declaration could state that any works to the interior would not affect the character of the building and, therefore, would not require planning permission. Alternatively, in the case of very valuable interiors permission may be required where, for example, redecoration was being contemplated. Planning authorities will be required to issue the declarations within three months of a request. Provision has been made in the transitional arrangements to extend the time if a large number of requests for declarations is made when the Bill is enacted.
Special consideration is to be given to structures which are used for religious worship. Planning authorities will be obliged to request liturgical requirements and to consult the relevant Church authorities when issuing a declaration. The same will apply to a planning application affecting the interior of a protected church. Section 9 provides that it will be an offence to deliberately damage a protected structure, with fines of up to £1 million on indictment. Owners and occupiers will be under a duty to ensure that a protected structure is not endangered, either through their actions or through neglect. Section 10 provides that if a protected structure is endangered, planning authorities may issue a notice to the owner or occupier requiring works to be carried out. The planning authority may at its discretion assist the owner or occupier either financially or otherwise in carrying out the works.
Section 11 provides that the planning authority may require the owner or occupier of a protected structure to carry out works to restore the character of a protected building. This could include the removal of incongruous signs on a protected building or street, even if such signs were erected lawfully. The planning authority will pay the full cost of any work carried out under this section. Sections 22 to 29 give power to planning authorities to purchase a protected structure which is endangered, compulsorily if necessary, and set out the procedures to be followed if this happens.
Section 30 requires sanitary authorities, before issuing a dangerous buildings notice in relation to a protected building, to consider instead whether a notice to carry out works under this Bill or under the Derelict Sites Act would be more appropriate. This is not an attempt to circumscribe a sanitary authority's powers, merely to oblige them to consider the fact that they may be dealing with a protected building which should be preserved if possible.
Section 38 provides for transitional arrangements for buildings currently listed for protection or preservation under a development plan. These will automatically become protected under the Bill. However, owners and occupiers of these buildings will be consulted and they will be entitled to make representations to the planning authority regarding whether or not their buildings should remain as a protected structure.
This Bill marks a major advance in the way we preserve and look after the precious heritage of buildings which we are lucky to possess. It is a mark of our maturity as a society that there is widespread support for devoting some of our increased wealth to preserving our physical history for our own edification and for those who come after us. It also shows our commitment to sustainable development by encouraging the use and re-use of existing building stock so that those buildings which have been in use for many decades, or even centuries, continue in use for years to come, not as museum pieces but as buildings which adapt and change as society and life itself adapts and changes. I commend this historic and landmark Bill to the House.