Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 July 2020
23. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the role of the Office of Public Works with respect to the historic buildings, monuments and artifacts within the Cherrywood strategic development zone; and the plans of the OPW during and post-construction for same. [16982/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI congratulate the Minister of State present, Deputy O'Donovan, as well as the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, on their appointments. I thank the Minister of State for taking the question this afternoon.
There is a 360 ha site in Cherrywood that is a strategic development zone in Dublin, in my constituency of Dún Laoghaire. It has a rich history, with several ancient monuments, buildings, ruins of the Tully church and two stone crosses. Given the construction of the new town centre and associated housing in the area, will the Minister confirm what role the Office of Public Works, OPW, has in the preservation and protection of those historic buildings, the monuments and artifacts within that strategic development zone? What are the plans of the OPW both during and after construction?
I thank the Deputy for his question. As he states, the Office of Public Works is responsible for the maintenance and operation of a defined list of approximately 700 sites in the State. Some of these include properties like Newgrange, Kilmainham Gaol and Dublin Castle, which are well known and visited by significant numbers of international tourists every year. However, most of the locations managed by the OPW are not as prominent and are located across the country, many in rural locations. The sites managed by the OPW are national monuments in the main and there are also certain prominent historical properties. Within the general Cherrywood area identified in the question, the OPW has one national monument site only, which is Monkstown Castle, in its care.
As an executive agency with the very specific remit I have described, OPW has no responsibility more generally for heritage sites, historic buildings, monuments or artifacts that lie outside of the 700 listed locations and which are, therefore, not in its direct care. Policy matters more generally, including protection measures around Ireland's heritage properties nationally, legislation, enforcement of breaches of the National Monuments Acts and the response to planning applications near listed historic sites is the responsibility of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, soon to be the Department of housing, local government and heritage, and the OPW has no direct role in these matters.
The OPW heritage services has not been directly involved or consulted in the creation of the Cherrywood strategic development zone and has not been assigned any specific responsibilities or duties within planning law arising from it. The OPW is not responsible at a national level for the protection of heritage, generally, and we are instead focused solely on sites and priorities within our remit. Previously, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht had responsibility for addressing the protection of Ireland's cultural assets more broadly. The Department's national monuments service has been unclear, however, in recent days about its specific roles and powers at Cherrywood and refused last week to take this parliamentary question from us. I have also been unsuccessful in getting it disallowed arising from the fact there is no function for the Office of Public Works. It is a double-whammy for Deputy Devlin.
Given our lack of responsibility in this area, the response to the question is relatively bare, unfortunately, and I have not been able to find out who, if anybody, is responsible for addressing heritage concerns in this area. I assume in the absence of other information, in the normal course, the Department dealing with housing will continue to hold this function. Although I have scant information, I expect the protection of heritage and other vital assets to be addressed in planning measures to be applied at Cherrywood. However, I can find no categoric information to that effect and the people who should know are not clear on the subject. That is of no benefit to the Deputy.
I suggest in these circumstances that the Minister would be circumspect about who exactly has responsibility for heritage protection. When the reconfiguration of the new Department is finished, I will endeavour to find out who is responsible for this, if anybody. It may even be the local authority but I do not know. We will try to find out and assist the Deputy.
This is a reply I look forward to getting and circulating. This highlights the point that these historical monuments, artifacts and buildings at Cherrywood are in real danger. I acknowledge the work of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and, as its cathaoirleach in 2017, I tried to propose a committee at the council involving the National Monuments Service, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the council and other agencies such as the OPW. That was not forthcoming.
I know now from that response the reason that was the case. However, I want to highlight for the Minister of State, and I appreciate his work on it, that according to a noted historian, Brian Mac Aongusa, Tully Church was the site of an early Christian community founded in the 6th century, which operated for almost 1,000 years until it fell into ruin in 1613. The elements of the current building date to the 12th century and include important elements of Norman architecture, including a perfectly preserved Romanesque chancel arch. The site is also the location of two standing stone crosses thought to date from the 10th century. It is of utmost importance that we find out which Department is engaging with the county council because in recent correspondence I received from Dún-Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council I have been informed that geophysical surveys were to be undertaken and on-site meetings were to take place. I would be grateful if the Minister of State could ask his officials to confirm the number of on-site visits that have taken place and keep me informed of the progress on-site.
The Deputy can forward to me any correspondence he has on this because it will be of help to us. If we have a role in this, we want to be clear with the Deputy and the Dáil, but the wider question he has raised is something I am already attuned to, which is the ownership of the monuments versus those who manage, protect and oversee them. There is an issue in that respect that I would like to see cleared up. The Deputy raises a very particular point that the transfer of responsibility for these areas, particularly the 700 sites that are on the schedule I referred to, from one Department to another when those Departments are broken up and changed is not helpful. The one constant is the OPW and our role, but unfortunately, as new Departments emerge, we will have new linkages and relationships that we will have to try to rebuild. It would be much easier if there was clarity regarding the management, ownership and ongoing protection of them. It is a discussion I have already started with the Minister of State, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and it is an issue I hope we can get finality on in the coming days.
