Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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In the OPW response to the committee on 13 June, it indicated there are no insurance valuations for the heritage properties in State ownership as they are covered by the State's own indemnity. I requested a follow-up and the OPW confirmed there is no insurance valuation on Castletown House. The majority of OPW heritage assets are recorded on an asset register with a €1 value on the basis that the value cannot be reflected in financial terms. I accept that the value cannot be reflected in purely financial terms because many of these are heritage sites and cannot simply be built. However, I would expect there to be some valuation of the assets of the State. Since 2000, the State has put €25 million into Castletown House. I got that information in answers to parliamentary questions. The house is of international importance. I am sure all of that would form part of the consideration in purchasing the land that is naturally part of the site that was not originally purchased by the State. Now there is a significant problem with access. Essentially, the State did not protect its asset by not protecting the vehicular access into it. It has now been blocked off. It would have had almost 1 million visitors per year, most of whom were people walking through the estate and approximately 30,000 were visitors to the house. We cannot hold such things as farmers' markets. The house is closed up because there has been a reaction to putting in a temporary car park along the main pedestrian access. I find it hard to appreciate why the State assets would not have some value put on them.