Vol. 506 No. 1
29 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if a final decision has been made to preserve the Asgard as a land based artifact; the locations being considered; and the capital and current costs involved in implementing this decision. [14402/99]
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Questions Nos. 28, 32 and 40 of 29 April last and my reply to Question No. 232 on 11 May 1999.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Asgard restoration project has made an application for a licence, under the national monuments Acts, for the restoration of the vessel. In accordance with standard practice I sought the advice of the National Museum of Ireland on the application and this advice is awaited. I understand that to fully consider the application for a licence the National Museum requested additional information in January last from the applicants but the information sought has not yet been received. The question of the future treatment of the vessel under the national monuments Acts cannot be decided until such time as I receive the advice of the National Museum, and consequently, the question of location and cost is not being considered at this time. It would be inappropriate to comment further on this matter until this advice has been tendered and considered.
