Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 November 2018
48. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding supports she will be providing in 2018 and 2019 for built and natural heritage programmes nationally and in County Kildare. [47427/18]
View answerMy Department provides financial support for the protection of our built heritage through a number of schemes which are generally administered by local authorities.
The Built Heritage Investment Scheme is a scheme for the repair and conservation of protected structures on the local authority Record of Protected Structures. It is designed to leverage private capital for investment in small scale conservation projects across the country and to support the employment of skilled conservation professionals and tradespeople. I have allocated funding of €2m in total for this Scheme in 2018. In 2017 and 2018 a total of €100,000 was provided in grant aid under this scheme for 28 projects in County Kildare.
The Structures at Risk Fund enables conservation works to heritage structures, in both private and public ownership, which are deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration. I have allocated €1.3m for the Structures at Risk Fund nationally in 2018. Over the course of 2017 and 2018, a total of €119,000 was allocated to 5 projects in County Kildare under this scheme. Details of the projects approved under both funding schemes are published on my Department’s website and on local authority websites.
The Structures at Risk Fund will be revamped for 2019 and will become the Historic Structures Fund. The Fund will open for applications shortly, together with the Built Heritage Investment Scheme for 2019.
My Department is providing €350,000 of funding to the OPW in 2018 to assist in the conservation and presentation of historic buildings and national monuments in State ownership. 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’s funding to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) provides for the maintenance, development, management and operation of the NPWS. It includes running costs of the 6 National Parks and 80 statutory Nature Reserves, development and improvement works for visitor facilities and other minor capital projects. NPWS also funds conservation-related research and surveys and compensatory measures for landowners’ costs and losses resulting from restrictions in managing their land in areas designated under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives. There are small provisions for supporting small scale conservation and community education and awareness projects in areas affected by the cessation of domestic turf cutting on designated raised bogs, the operational costs of the Peatlands Council and also for the scanning costs of applications referred to the Minister in her role as a statutory consultee under the Planning Acts and from other consent authorities.
Ireland, like all EU Member States, is bound by the requirements of the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive. These Directives aim to ensure the protection of habitats and species which have been selected for conservation within special areas of conservation and special protection areas.
Significant efforts have been made by the State to resolve the issue of the protection of Ireland’s raised bog special areas of conservation within the framework of the Habitats Directive. The National Raised Bog Special Areas of Conservation Management Plan 2017-2022 sets out how the raised bog special areas of conservation are to be managed, conserved and restored and how the needs of turf cutters are to be addressed. Measures for turf-cutters affected by the cessation of turf-cutting on raised bog special areas of conservation and natural heritage areas also include the provision of compensation under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme which is comprised of a payment of €1,500 per annum, index-linked, for 15 years, or relocation, where feasible, to a non-designated bog, together with a once-off incentive payment of €500.
15,673 annual payments and 1,076 deliveries of turf have been made in respect of applications received under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme for raised bog special areas of conservation. 1,207 annual payments and 2 deliveries of turf have been made to applicants from raised bog natural heritage areas under the scheme. In addition, 1,870 once-off incentive payments of €500 have been made, of which 48 relate to natural heritage areas.
The affected special area of conservation raised bogs in Kildare are Mouds Bog SAC and Ballynafagh Bog SAC. For those sites 933 annual payments and 313 deliveries of turf have been made together with 65 once-off incentive payments of €500. My Department is in the process of relocating applicants from Ballynafagh Bog special area of conservation to the non-designated Coolree Bog. Approximately €103,000 has been spent on progressing this project.
In 2018 I announced the approval of grant funding of just under €137,000 under the pilot Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme for twelve local community groups and organisations for a variety of projects focused on the conservation and revitalisation of raised bog Special Areas of Conservation, Natural Heritage Areas and other raised bog areas in 2018. A grant of €3,900 was awarded to an organisation in Co. Kildare for restoration works to a raised bog natural heritage area in Co. Meath.
In terms of future funding, Investing in our Culture, Language and Heritage 2018 – 2027 represents a major capital investment scheme of €1.2 billion in funding over the next 10 years, as part of Project Ireland 2040. This plan will see increased investment in protecting and celebrating our built heritage across the country. More details on the commencement and completion dates for projects and programmes, as well as the timing of the expenditure in relation to them, will emerge as we go through the process of appraisal and planning as required under the Public Spending Code.
