Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2015
1194. Deputy Seán Conlan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps that need to be taken by Monaghan County Council to obtain funding from her Department to enable restoration works to be carried out to the court house in Casteblayney and to ensure that the works are in compliance with the planning and development Acts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37893/15]
View answerMy role, as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, with regard to the protection and management of our built and natural heritage, is set out in the provisions of relevant legislation. Part IV of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, provides for the protection of the architectural heritage. The Act gives primary responsibility to planning authorities to identify and protect the architectural heritage by including relevant structures on the Record of Protected Structures. 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. The owner is the local authority, Monaghan County Council. It is, therefore, primarily its responsibility to address the issues identified by the Deputy in terms of compliance with the Planning and Development Acts.
The scope for funding for the conservation of the built heritage is currently constrained by the significant reduction in the public finances. Funding for the protection of built heritage is being provided by my Department in 2015 via a number of schemes, which are either directly administered or delivered through local authorities or through the Heritage Council. Applications for funding under these schemes are currently closed as all funding for 2015 has been allocated.
In 2015, under the Structures at Risk Fund, an allocation of €624,000 was available, to enable conservation works to heritage structures, in both private and public ownership, protected under the Planning and Development Acts 2000, as amended, which are deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration. This fund which is administered through the local authorities encourages the regeneration and reuse of heritage properties and helps to secure the preservation of protected structures which might otherwise be lost. The fund was open to two applications per local authority of which one application may be in respect of a privately-owned building. The amount of funding available per project was subject to a minimum level of €15,000 and a maximum level of €60,000. Since 2011, in excess of 130 structures have been safeguarded for the future as a result of the Structures at Risk Fund.
I recently announced a new €2 million investment scheme for the repair and conservation of protected structures. This fund will operate on the same model as the very successful Built Heritage Jobs Leverage Scheme (BHJLS), which ran in 2014, and is expected to support a significant number of projects across the country and create employment in the conservation and construction industries, while helping to regenerate urban and rural areas. This announcement will come as a welcome boost to the custodians of heritage properties.
Officials in my Department continue to be available to advise local authorities on the conservation, reuse and regeneration of historic structures, where applicable.
