Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 November 2017
245. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding streams that will be available from her Department in 2018 to support the repair of historical buildings in rural areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47893/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy role, as Minister, with regard to the protection and management of our heritage, is set out in the provisions of relevant legislation, as are the role of local authorities and the responsibilities of owners as regards heritage assets.
Part IV of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, provides for the protection of architectural heritage. The Act gives primary responsibility to planning authorities to identify and protect the architectural heritage by including relevant structures on the Record of Protected Structures. Inclusion on the Record of Protected Structures places a duty of care on the owners and occupiers of protected structures and also gives planning authorities powers to deal with development proposals affecting them and to seek to safeguard their future.
Financial support is provided by my Department through a number of structured schemes for the repair, conservation, preservation or safeguarding of protected structures, sites or monuments. These schemes are administered through the local authorities.
The Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) was developed to assist with the repair and conservation of structures that are protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended). In 2017 I approved funding of €3.5 million for approximately five hundred projects in every local authority area across the country.
The Structures at Risk Fund (SRF) seeks to encourage the regeneration and reuse of heritage properties and to help to secure the preservation of protected structures, in both private and public ownership, which might otherwise be lost. In 2017 I approved funding of €1.324 million for 67 projects countrywide.
While the funding for these schemes in 2018 is still to be confirmed pending the final budgetary estimates process, given their success to date, I do intend that both schemes will operate again in 2018 as administered via the local authorities. Details of the schemes and application dates for 2018 will be published on my Department's website and all local authority websites in the coming weeks.
My Department also provides funding to the OPW to assist in the conservation and presentation of historic buildings and national monuments in State ownership. In 2017, funding of €350,000 was provided.
The Heritage Council, which my Department funds, also provides grants for the protection and preservation of the built heritage. It is primarily a matter for the Heritage Council to decide how its funding should be allocated across the range of research, education and conservation programmes it supports annually, having regard to competing priorities for limited resources. Grant schemes for 2018 will be advertised by the Heritage Council on its website www.heritagecouncil.ie.
