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Architectural Heritage

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 April 2019

Thursday, 18 April 2019

Ceisteanna (87)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

87. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which remedial works have been undertaken at buildings and sites of historical or cultural interest in the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16698/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Office of Public Works is responsible for the care and maintenance of heritage sites in State care. This includes the National Monuments portfolio which comprises approximately 1,000 Monuments on a total of 768 sites and which is, I understand, the specific area that the Deputy is enquiring about.

The OPW’s maintenance responsibilities to this estate encompass both regular light maintenance such as grass cutting, fencing, and small repairs of loose masonry etc and more extensive interventions where substantial conservation efforts are required over a more protracted period. These latter projects may be either elective conservation works which are planned well in advance or emergency works required urgently to retrieve fabric or correct a serious structural issue / pending collapse.

In the period 2016 – 2018, the OPW has worked on a number of substantial projects of varying scale within the National Monuments portfolio in its care together with ongoing maintenance of both buildings and sites.

As the Deputy can appreciate, given the large number of sites in the portfolio and their broad geographic spread right across the country, a significant team of skilled construction specialists and general workers is deployed to keep properties in good order. In terms of funding, a considerable portion of the OPW’s annual budget for heritage therefore relates to operational staff wages expended on the skilled labour force that performs most of the tasks. Relatively less funding is provided for non-pay elements which are expended on items such as construction materials (stone and timber), and specialist services not available within OPW such as laser scanning, archaeological investigation, and other professional specialisms.

In terms of OPW’s total heritage spending on the National Monuments estate in State care for the last three years, including both pay and no-pay elements, the following is the position:

2016

2017

2018

15,082,181

15,953,852

17,461,833

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