Vol. 437 No. 7
111 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht whether funding will be made available in the current year for the restoration of the Tower at St. Mary's Church of Ireland, Maynooth, County Kildare; if his attention has been drawn to the plans for this work; the costs involved; if he will offer funding in keeping with such costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The National Heritage Council distributes national lottery funds, subject to my approval, to heritage projects which come within its specific terms of reference. I understand that the council received an application for grant assistance towards the cost of the restoration of St. Mary's Church of Ireland, Maynooth, County Kildare, in October 1991. The work involved included the restoration of the church tower.
A condition of any grant assistance awarded by the National Heritage Council is that it must be used to complete the work involved. In this case the council decided that St. Mary's Church of Ireland restoration committee would need to have a much greater percentage of its own funding in place before the council could consider this project for grant assistance. The restoration committee was informed of the council's decision and asked to resubmit its application when a more substantial amount of the funding required has been raised. To date the restoration committee has not resubmitted its application.
All applications to the National Heritage Council are considered on their own merits. The assessment of applications and decision about whether or not to recommend grant assistance are matters entirely for the council.
112 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht when the restoration of the Geraldine Castle, Maynooth, County Kildare will commence; if the necessary funding, planning and other such prerequisites will be put in place in sufficient time to make progress on the site in 1994; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Geraldine Castle, Maynooth, County Kildare has been included by me on the provisional list of projects to be funded from Structural Funds during 1994-99. The question of the commencement date of works at the castle will be considered by me shortly, in consultation with the Office of Public Works, when I am setting a programme of works for implementation by that Office in 1994.
