Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 30 March 2021

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised)

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming before the committee. I thank him particularly for, and note, the flood relief works that have been undertaken so far and are still in the pipeline - no pun intended. In Kildare, I note the works in the Morell River, which were delayed due to court proceedings, are up and running now. How are they progressing? I note much development work has been curtailed by the Covid.

I will mention the great houses throughout the country that fall within the responsibility, and those that are in the charge, of the Office of Public Works in respect of which I have put down numerous questions over the years and will continue to so do. A number of buildings that strike the eye as one travels along any of our major routes stand out in the sense that they seem to be in a rundown state and look to be in danger of collapse. What can be done about them? Some of them are in private ownership. Others are in public ownership. There is, for instance, in my constituency, Carbery Castle, which is not too far down the road from Johnstown which my colleague in Meath mentioned a few minutes ago. It is an eye-catching building with much history attached to it. It has not been mooted yet but there has been a local evaluation done of it. My question would be, to what extent could the Minister of State envisage embarking on a restoration programme.

Similarly, in relation to Rathcoffey Castle in private ownership, I am not certain whether it is available for restoration but there is that in my immediate area. There is also a very historical building in Taghadoe Round Tower and Abbey. A long time built, dating from the 8th century, it is in need of remedial works in the sense of sealing the building from rain damage, etc. An examination was done a couple of years ago as to what might be done by OPW in the future. I ask the Minister of State if it might be possible to progress that in relation to that particular building.

There are a number of other public buildings that I have made reference to in the past as well, including Castletown House, in Celbridge, which is also in my constituency. I do not normally do a constituency tour of these buildings but occasionally it is no harm to do a little bit of twirl around the constituency to see how things are going on. I await the Minister of State's response.

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