Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I thank Deputy Costello for raising this matter. As the Deputy is aware, in January 2007 the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government placed a preservation order on Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street under section 8 of the National Monuments Act 1930, as amended. The preservation order was made on the grounds that the buildings are a monument, the preservation of which is of national importance by reason of their historical importance as the final headquarters of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. The objective of the preservation order is to protect the monument from any danger of being destroyed, injured or removed. The effect of a preservation order is that any works affecting these properties, including any excavation or ground disturbance within, around or in proximity to them, require the prior written consent of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government under the National Monuments Acts. The Minister is statutorily obliged to consult with the director of the National Museum as part of the consent process. It is an offence for anyone to damage, injure, remove or carry out, or cause or permit, work affecting the monument without the Minister's written consent.

I am aware that An Bord Pleanála has made a decision to grant permission, with conditions, for a mixed development on this site that includes the national monument. This permission in no way supersedes the preservation order already in place and the consent of the Minister still will be required, in accordance with section 14 of the National Monuments Act 1930, for any works affecting the area covered by the order. While my Department currently is dealing with a consent application for minor works to protect and maintain the fabric of these buildings, to date no application for consent related to the proposed major development has been received.

The position is that notwithstanding the granting of planning permission, the protection in respect of Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street as a national monument remains in place and unchanged. I fully appreciate the historical significance of these buildings as the site of the last military actions of the 1916 Rising leaders, namely, Pearse, Connolly, Plunkett and MacDermott and I took the opportunity to look at the exterior and rear of the buildings last St. Patrick's Day. The leaders' actions and self-sacrifice, the centenary of which will be upon us in less than six years, laid the foundations for the establishment of the Irish State. I assure the Deputy that the appropriateness of any proposed works will be examined carefully against that historical background if and when a development-related consent application is submitted to my Department.

See this speech in context