Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to emphasise that the Minister has no function in the operations of NAMA and has no role in the disposal of its loans or assets. The Minister's involvement in the Moore Street issue, as she has made clear countless times, arises from the preservation order that was placed in 2007 on Nos. 14 to 17 under the National Monuments Acts.

Any plans or proposals for the wider area outside the confines of the national monument are the responsibility of Dublin City Council as the planning authority. Redevelopment plans for the area have received full planning permission from An Bord Pleanála. The properties around the national monument are in private ownership. They are not subject to the Minister's remit under the National Monuments Acts.

The historical significance of the fundamentally intact building at No. 16 as the final headquarters of the 1916 Rising was the determining factor when the decision was taken to make the preservation order. These buildings are the only substantially authentic, original and intact pre-1916 buildings on the street. They are the only buildings that retain significant original elements that would have been there in 1916, including staircases, partitions, plaster work, doors, floors, fittings and fixtures. Above all, Nos. 14 to 17 also contain the physical evidence of the presence of the insurgents in the form of the openings broken through party walls as they tunnelled their way up the street. All of these elements are being retained, secured and permanently safeguarded as a result of the Government's decision to assume ownership of the national monument.

The Minister is pressing ahead as speedily as possible to acquire the site, carry out the restoration work and have the 1916 commemorative centre open to the public. I wish I had a better timeline for the Deputies, but I do not. I look forward to the day work gets started on the Moore Street project. All of our citizens can look forward with pride to the day it opens its doors to welcome the public as a fitting testament to the men and women of 1916 and what they fought for. There are more discussions to be had, not least with the traders who occupy the street and do their daily business there. Subject to agreement, we hope to have a wrap going around those four buildings in the very near future. This will be a solid indication of the Government's intention to establish a lasting monument to the sacrifices of those who fought that week and had their final meetings in this historic building.

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