Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 15 together.

Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street are the subject of a preservation order under the National Monuments Acts. The effect of the preservation order is that any works affecting these properties require my consent, as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, under section 14 of the National Monuments Act 1930 as amended. The landowner’s application to my Department for consent to proposals that envisage the retention of the buildings and the provision of a commemorative centre to the 1916 Rising is being examined. In that context, I have visited the site and met various interest groups, including relatives of the 1916 leaders with whom I have toured the area and had a number of discussions.

As part of the consent process, the applicant has recently been asked by my Department to submit an environmental impact statement on the proposed works. This is in accordance with the European Union (Environmental Impact Assessment of Proposed Demolition of National Monuments) Regulations 2012, which I made in July. The regulations introduce new provisions into the National Monuments Acts to provide for the carrying out of an environmental impact assessment on any works to a national monument that involve an element of demolition. Following receipt of the environmental impact statement and having completed the prescribed consultation procedures, I will undertake a formal environmental impact assessment before making a decision on the consent application.

Any wider plans for the development of the Moore Street area would be a matter for the relevant landowners and the local authority, Dublin City Council.

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