Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 March 2013
89. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he or his Department is aware of the number and location of historical or heritage sites which are open to the public or are likely to become open to the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13365/13]
View answerThere are a total of almost 1,000 individual National Monuments in State care at approximately 768 locations around the country. These are managed and maintained by the Office of Public Works (OPW) and include both sites which are in full State ownership and others which are privately-owned but where Guardianship arrangements exist and where the OPW provides maintenance services. A small number of sites included in the list have National Monuments which are State owned and others which are privately held at the same location. A full list of the National Monuments in State care has been sent to the Deputy under separate cover.
As a general policy, OPW facilitates visitor access to as many National Monument sites as possible. However, access is not always feasible because of a range of issues including physical location, risks associated with dangerous structures and restrictions imposed in some cases by landowners who may wish to limit access, either temporarily or more longer term, by reason of accident risk, livestock etc. OPW would estimate that approximately 10% of the National Monument sites in its care are not accessible at any given time.
As part of its remit, the OPW also provides enhanced visitor access, together with Guide facilities in some cases, at 70 of the more prominent visitor locations nationally. These include many of the most iconic heritage sites in the country such as Kilmainham Gaol, the Rock of Cashel, Newgrange etc as well as a number of smaller, less well known properties. Year-round access with full Guide services is provided at 24 of these locations and a further 7 are accessible unguided. The remainder are open with Guide services on a seasonal basis on varying dates and for different lengths of seasons generally between March and October. Details of these sites and their opening arrangements are available on www.heritageireland.ie
There are no plans at present to extend the number of sites presented with a full or partial OPW Guide service. However, commencing in 2012, the OPW engaged with local communities in many parts of the country and sought proposals from a number of local Groups interested in facilitating public access at a number of heritage locations and times not currently provided for. This scheme will be repeated in 2013.
