I propose to take Questions Nos. 729, 732 and 759 together.
My Department has a number of measures at its disposal to facilitate or encourage the preservation or otherwise making safe of protected structures and monuments.
All known archaeological monuments, of which there are in excess of 130,000, are entitled to protection under the National Monuments Acts. The Acts allow me to make a preservation order where I consider a national monument to be at risk. Protection may be extended to previously unrecorded monuments by entering them in the Register of Historic Monuments or the Record of Monuments and Places. Prosecutions in respect of damage to recorded monuments are initiated where warranted.
Part IV of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2012 provides for the protection of architectural heritage. The Act gives primary responsibility to planning authorities to identify and protect the architectural heritage by including them on the Record of Protected Structures. Under section 53 of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2012, I may make recommendations to a planning authority concerning the inclusion in its record of protected structures any structures which I consider would merit such inclusion and the attendant planning restrictions which would apply to protect the structures’ special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest.
Inclusion on the Record of Protected Structures places a duty of care on the owners and occupiers of protected structures and also gives planning authorities powers to deal with development proposals affecting them and to seek to safeguard their future. Recognising this duty of care placed on owners of protected structures, a number of State financial supports provide for the conservation and restoration of heritage structures in both private and public ownership.
Comprehensive statistics are not available in respect of the number and location of endangered heritage sites or buildings throughout the country. As the Deputy can appreciate, however, the scope for funding for the conservation of the built heritage is currently constrained by the significant reduction in the public finances.
An overall allocation is provided from the National Lottery each year for expenditure through the Votes of various Departments. In 2013 my Department’s allocation of funding of €4.446m to the Heritage Council was partially funded by National Lottery funds. In turn, the Heritage Council supports a range of heritage conservation projects. It is a matter for the Heritage Council to allocate its funding appropriately given competing priorities within the heritage sector. However, I understand that in 2013 the Council is funding or otherwise supporting a number of programmes for the conservation and preservation of our heritage.
Additionally, my Department provides funding through a Structures at Risk Fund to assist with works to safeguard structures protected under Part IV and, in certain cases, works to safeguard structures within Architectural Conservation Areas, where an urgent need for works to such structures has arisen and has been demonstrated. In 2013 I allocated a total of €475,000 in grant funding to thirty-four local authorities under my Department’s Structures at Risk Fund 2013 to enable conservation works to forty-five heritage structures in both private and public ownership deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration and which are protected under the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2012.
This year, in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland and the Heritage Council, my Department is also initiating a pilot heritage-led regeneration programme, the Historic Towns Initiative , in Youghal, Westport and Listowel with the local authorities in each town. I have awarded €80,000 to each of the three towns from my Department’s voted allocation towards works to promote and enhance the heritage of the town in line with the objectives of this pilot programme.
My Department is also providing €350,000 of funding to the Office of Public Works (OPW) in 2013 to assist in the conservation and presentation of historic buildings and national monuments in State ownership. The OPW undertakes the care and maintenance of national monuments in my ownership or guardianship (of which there are approximately 750). My Department’s National Monuments Service works in close collaboration with the OPW on survey, excavation and research work to optimise the protection, management, interpretation and presentation of national monuments in State care.
My Department has been and is currently involved in various actions which aim to address specific issues such as the endangerment of our national heritage. These include the work of an expert advisory committee, set up in 2011 and representing key stakeholders, to review the operation of Part IV of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2012 in respect of protection and management of architectural heritage.
My Department also publishes a series of booklets for owners and occupiers advising on the care and maintenance of old and historic structures. These are available on my Department’s website www.ahg.gov.ie .
In 2011, I announced a major refurbishment programme for Killarney House and its ornamental grounds and gardens. The House will be developed as the main visitor and interpretative centre for the National Park highlighting the beauty and interpreting the richness and significance of the Park's landscapes, habitats, flora and fauna as well as telling the story of man's interaction with the park over the centuries. It is also intended that some of the formal rooms will be restored to their former glory. This is a major project for my Department and involves collaboration with OPW as the project managers and Fáilte Ireland which has committed funding of €5.2 million under its Tourism Capital Investment Programme.
