Vol. 506 No. 1
36 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the scheme, if any, intended for introduction by her Department to assist in the restoration of old stone famine dated village houses; her views on whether this would be of interest and value to the economy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14697/99]
I regard all of our architectural heritage as being of interest and of value to the economy. In May of last year, together with my colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, I launched the package of proposals for the strengthening and protection of the architectural heritage. This package, which is being progressively implemented by both Departments, adopts a comprehensive approach to the protection of our architectural heritage in its many and varied forms rather than singling out individual aspects of that heritage. As the Deputy may be aware, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government last week launched a grant scheme for the conservation of protected buildings to be administered by local authorities.
The Deputy may also be aware that the Heritage Council maintains a register of heritage buildings at risk and has the power to provide grant assistance for the conservation of such buildings. The Deputy may note that although my Department funds the Heritage Council, which is an independent statutory body established under the Heritage Act, 1995, I have no function in relation to any decisions by it regarding the disbursal of grants. I was pleased, however, to be able to increase the funding to the Heritage Council from £4 million in 1998 to £5.08 million in the current year, an increase of 27 per cent.
