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

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 the consent of the 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 include the provision of a commemorative centre to the 1916 Rising and its leaders on the national monument site is being examined.

As part of the consent process, the applicant was asked by my Department to provide an environmental impact statement in regard to the proposals for the national monument site. The public consultation period in regard to the environmental impact statement was extended because of the requirement for the applicant to publish a fresh public notice when the original notice was found to be deficient. The extended period ended yesterday. Following completion of the consultation procedures, I now intend to proceed as quickly as possible to undertake a formal environmental impact assessment, including consideration of the submissions received, and then to make a decision on the consent application itself.

My function in regard to the upkeep or maintenance of the monument, which is privately owned, is confined to considering any related proposals by the owners for which my consent must be sought under the National Monuments Acts. The monument buildings are included in the record of protected structures, maintained by Dublin City Council under the Planning Acts, which gives the city council specific powers of intervention that are not available to me. However, from time to time, my consent has been sought and given under the National Monuments Acts for necessary maintenance and repairs. This includes, most recently, essential stabilisation work on the building facades.

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