Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 January 2013
12. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when a decision will be made in relation to the battlefield site on Moore Street, Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4498/13]
View answer18. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he intends honouring his undertaking to preserve the 1916 National Monument in its entirety under preservation order No. 1 of 2007. [4261/13]
View answer38. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he has received the environmental impact assessment of numbers 14 to 17 Moore Street, Dublin; the result of this assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4511/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 18 and 38 together.
Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street are the subject of a Preservation Order under the National Monuments Acts. The effect of the Preservation Order is that any works affecting these properties require my consent, as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, under section 14 of the National Monuments Act 1930, as amended. The landowner’s application to my Department envisages the retention of the monument buildings and the provision of a commemorative centre to the 1916 Rising and its leaders. That application for consent is being examined by my Department at present. As part of the consent process, the applicant was asked by my Department to submit an Environmental Impact Statement in relation to the proposed works. This was in accordance with new regulations, which I introduced last year, that have placed additional responsibilities on landowners in respect of monuments protected under the National Monuments Acts.
The Environmental Impact Statement was received in my Department on Friday last, 25 January 2013 and, as required by the regulations, copies have been sent to the National Museum of Ireland and Dublin City Council for observations. It is also available for public examination. Interested parties have 5 weeks from the submission date to provide their comments to me, as Minister, for consideration as part of my assessment of the Environmental Impact Statement. Having completed the prescribed consultation procedures, I will then undertake the formal environmental impact assessment as part of my decision on the consent application. My intention is complete these processes as speedily as possible.
