Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the famous cross of Durrow, a fantastic artefact in his constituency, will again be on full public view from next Monday. It has been transferred from the graveyard into the wonderful church in Durrow. That is an example of the ongoing conservation work carried out by the Office of Public Works. At 50 of the 69 sites, we pay in. One of the initiatives I launched is the first free Wednesday every month. It has been an enormous success and has increased the number of people attending these sites all over the country by 50% on the Wednesdays in question. We will look at how we can extend the initiative this year.

Grants to the Heritage Council and others are provided by other Departments. Our responsibility is for the 7,500 monuments, of which 69 are guided, and all historic properties, such as Kilmainham, Farmleigh and Dublin Castle. In a tight budgetary environment, we are attempting to maximise our spend. Later this month and over the summer we will launch an important voluntary participation programme, whereby we encourage new partnerships between local communities and the Office of Public Works to help us run and present these fantastic sites. It will be similar to the model used by English Heritage. There is great potential in asking local volunteers to help us in the preservation of these sites.

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