Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 370: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way a building becomes listed; the criteria or qualifications used for a building to become a listed building; if a listed building may be de-listed; the way a building may become de-listed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7617/12]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 371: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the buildings that are listed in County Cavan; the architectural conservation areas in County Cavan; the restrictions owners of listed properties or properties in ACAs face; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7618/12]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 370 and 371 together.

Under the provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 regarding architectural heritage, each planning authority is required to include in its development plan a Record of Protected Structures (RPS), which includes all structures or parts of structures in their functional areas which, in their opinion, are of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest. This record forms part of a planning authority's development plan. Inclusion on the RPS places a duty of care on the owners and occupiers of protected structures and gives planning authorities powers to deal with development proposals affecting them in order to safeguard their future.

My role in relation to protected structures is to ensure that there are appropriate legislative and policy frameworks in place in relation to the built heritage. My Department has responsibility for the National Inventory for Architectural Heritage, which provides a basis for me to recommend structures to local authorities for protection. However, operational issues are generally a matter for planning authorities under these frameworks.

Planning authorities are further obliged to preserve the character of places and townscapes, which are of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest or that contribute to the appreciation of protected structures, by designating them as architectural conservation areas (ACAs) in their development plan. My Department's Architectural Heritage Protection Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2011) provide statutory guidelines with regard to the implementation of Part IV (Architectural Heritage) of the Act. However, the protection of the architectural heritage for both protected structures and architectural conservation areas is a matter for the planning authority, in this case Cavan County Council.

The list of structures included in the RPS and the areas designated as ACAs for County Cavan are detailed in the Cavan County Development Plan 2008-2014, that was adopted at a meeting of Cavan County Council on Monday 13 October 2008 and came into effect on Monday 10 November 2008. A planning authority in reviewing its RPS from time to time (normally during the review of the development plan) may make additions or deletions. A planning authority may add or delete a structure from its RPS by the following procedures as appropriate:

a) in accordance with a review or variation of its development plan as set out in Section 12 of the Act; or

b) at any other time by following different prescribed procedures laid out under Section 55 of the Act.

Unlike with a protected structure where the protection extends to the interior of the building, in an ACA only the carrying out of works to the exterior of a structure within the area, which would materially affect the character of the area, will require planning permission.

ACAs allow planning authorities to protect the architectural heritage by controlling and guiding change on a wider scale than individual structures, in order to retain the overall architectural or historical character of an area or place.