Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

To address Senator Fitzpatrick's question, we have made considerable progress in respect of Moore Street. As she knows, the advisory group, which was chaired by Dr. Tom Collins, whom I thank for his fantastic work, commenced in 2017. Its final report was submitted to the Minister and me on 5 May of this year. We are making significant progress. Our officials have been liaising with the Office of Public Works, OPW, on progressing the next element of the works on the national monument and the creation of a new visitor centre. We want to expedite this work as much as practicable, notwithstanding other complexities with the site. The national monument is our number one priority. I will be working with the Minister on trying to advance the work in 2022. I hope this has answered the Senator's question. I can ask Mr. Michael MacDonagh from the national monuments service to appear before the committee if required. I will give a commitment, though. The Minister and I have discussed this matter in recent weeks. We want to try to make significant progress in early 2022.

Regarding Deputy McAuliffe's question on St. Canice's monastery, we were delighted to be able to support that project. I urge the area's community to continue looking at our funding streams, in particular the CMF, in 2022. There is a significant capital programme in stream 1 that I urge the community to consider. We will work with the community. The monastery project is important and we would be delighted to try to help the work in any way we can.