John Bruton
Ceist:64 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he will give details of the extent of usage of local materials and labour from the immediate vicinity in the construction of the Boyne Valley Interpretative Centre.
Written Answers. - Interpretative Centres.
The contractor has advised that, prior to cessation of work 11 workmen from the locality were employed on the site. It is not possible to identify the additional number of local persons employed by suppliers and in off-site work.
Commitments to date for the use of local materials include: Concrete products (Navan); Stone paving, rock (Slane); Reinforcement bars (Ratoath); Hardware (general) (Drogheda); Fittings (Navan).
John Bruton
Ceist:65 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance his projections for the current running costs of the various Interpretative Centres; if these centres will remain open all year round; if they will be profit making; if not, the provision, if any, that will be made to cover recurrent losses on the operation of the centres; and the extent of the provision which he expects will be necessary.
The Office of Public Works will be providing visitor and interpretative facilities at 44 heritage sites throughout the country in 1993. They range in size from Muckross House and the Rock of Cashel to Pearse's Cottage, Rosmuc and St. Mary's Abbey in Dublin.
The estimated running cost of these facilities (excluding general maintenance), that is guides, electricity and telephones is £1,440,000. The projected receipts are £1,727,000. The general maintenance costs of the visitor facilities and the buildings that they are housed in are met from the voted moneys for the maintenance and management of national parks, national monuments, national nature reserves, etc.
Twelve of the 44 centres will remain open all year round. The majority of the remaining 33 centres are open from April to October, with 15 facilitating school and other groups during the winter period by pre-arranged bookings.
These visitor centres are an invaluable educational resource for schools, visitors to this country and the general public. They are of the highest possible standard and have a major role to play in the development of heritage tourism in Ireland. They boost the local economies that they are situated in and provide employment for over 190 guides during the peak summer months.