Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 April 2017
461. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the reason relevant officers from her Department did not conduct a full investigation into the cause of the structural damage which led to the collapse of national monument number 526 at Donaghmore, County Louth. [18036/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra462. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if her Department was consulted prior to the granting of planning permission to a house built 30 feet away from the Donaghmore Souterrain. [18037/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra463. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the exact circumstances which led to the structural damage to the Donaghmore Souterrain in County Louth. [18039/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra464. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if the National Monuments Service determined the identities of the parties responsible for the collapse of the Donaghmore Souterrain; and if so, if they have been prosecuted under section 14(1) of the National Monuments Act 2004. [18040/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 461 to 464, inclusive, together.
I refer the Deputy to the reply by my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, to Questions Nos. 285 to 289, inclusive, on 28 March 2017. The reply set out in detail the information available from the Office of Public Works, which has responsibility for the maintenance and management of the monument in question, in relation to the damage to the monument and the remedial actions proposed.
In December 2007 my Department was notified by the planning authority of an application for planning permission for a new dwelling house near to the monument. In response, the Department recommended that an archaeological impact assessment be carried out to inform the planning authority’s decision on the application. The determination of individual planning applications, and the application or otherwise of conditions, is a statutory function of the planning authorities.
