Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
667. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans the Office of Public Works have to secure and repair the old church and surrounding walls at Raymoghy Abbey near Manorcunningham, County Donegal; and his views on whether such important historical sites require ongoing maintenance and care. [20820/21]
View answerMy role with regard to the protection and management of our archaeological and architectural heritage is set out in the provisions of relevant legislation, including the Planning Acts and the National Monuments Acts, as are the roles of local authorities and the responsibilities of owners.
In the context of a particular building or historic structure, the best advice is generally to contact the Heritage Officer or Architectural Conservation Officer in the local authority, in this case Donegal County Council, who is well placed to advise on the various types of funding available to assist with renovation.
As Minister, I am the owner or guardian under the National Monuments Acts of approximately 1,000 national monuments. The Acts also allow me to make a preservation order where I consider a national monument to be at risk. Responsibility for management and maintenance of historical buildings and sites in my ownership and management of related visitor facilities, rests with the Office of Public Works (OPW) which also maintains a significant ongoing programme of conservation works. The OPW do not, however, have a role in relation to other sites.With regard to the safeguarding of protected structures, Part IV of the Planning and Development Act 2000 gives primary responsibility to local authorities to identify and protect architectural heritage by including particular structures on their respective Records of Protected Structures (RPS). Inclusion on the RPS places a duty of care on the owners and occupiers of protected structures and also gives planning authorities powers to deal with any development proposals affecting them.
My Department provides financial support, however, for the protection of heritage buildings and historic structures through a number of grant schemes which are, in the main, administered by the local authorities. These include the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) and the Historic Structures Fund (HSF). Last year some 450 heritage projects across every county in the country were allocated funding from a combined sum of over €4.3m under these schemes and an extra €1m in funding was secured for built heritage projects under the July Jobs Stimulus Package 2020, which aimed to offset some of the effects of Covid-19.The BHIS and HSF for 2021 were launched in November 2020, with a combined allocation of €6m, an increase of nearly 40% on 2020. I recently announced the projects to be funded under BHIS and details are available on my Department’s website. The assessments for the HSF are currently under consideration in my Department and I will announce the approved projects shortly. In addition my Department recently announced a call for applications under the Community Monuments Fund (CMF) for 2021 for investment in our archaeological heritage. The CMF is prioritised for local authorities, private owners and custodians, and community groups for the care, maintenance, protection and promotion of local monuments and historic sites, such as this one, and the provision of any required measures to ensure safe access during the Covid-19 pandemic. The CMF is administered through the local authorities and a total of €2m has been allocated to the fund for this year.
