Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A comprehensive assessment has already been carried out at my Department's request, as part of the consent application under the National Monuments Act, for the proposed works on the national monument site. The consent applicants, Chartered Land Limited, which owns the national monument site, was asked by my Department, in January 2012, to commission an assessment of the wider battlefield context of the national monument as part of the Minister's consideration of the consent application. The report reinforces the primary status of Nos. 14-17 Moore Street, most notably because of the degree to which pre-1916 fabric survives in association with the final critical hour of the Easter Rising and how these buildings stand up in contrast with the wider area.

The methodology for the assessment was drawn up and agreed in advance of my Department's national monument service and by the director of the National Museum of Ireland. The assessment was carried out by an eminent archaeologist and historian and the Department is satisfied with the quality of the research. I do not propose to seek a further assessment of the area.

I have no function in regard to the regulation of development, outside the bounds of the preservation order. As required under the National Monuments Act, an application for consent in respect of the proposed works to Nos. 14-17 Moore Street was submitted to my Department on behalf of Chartered Land Limited in June 2001.

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