Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for his very important Topical Issue matter. St. Patrick's Cathedral is the largest medieval church in Ireland. It has been recorded by my Departments national inventory of architectural heritage and rated of national significance. It is included on the Dublin City Council record of protected structures. Although substantially restored in the mid-19th century the cathedral still retains a significant amount of medieval fabric, including medieval roof timbers.

I am aware that the public health restrictions have been particularly difficult. I understand that 90% of tourists to this wonderful cathedral, come, in normal times, from overseas. St. Patrick's Cathedral is one of Ireland's most important historic structures, still operating for its original purpose 800 years after its construction. I assure the Deputy that my Department will continue to work closely with the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral and his colleagues with a view to bringing this very important restoration project to completion. A further application from St. Patrick's Cathedral would be most welcome in the next round of the historic structures fund, which I expect to announce in November.

My Department provides financial support for the protection of heritage buildings and historic structures through two grant schemes that are, in the main, administered by the local authorities. These are the built heritage investment scheme and the historic structures fund. This year, 450 heritage projects across every county in the State will benefit from a combined sum of more than €4.3 million under these schemes. This funding will support the owners and custodians of historic and protected structures as they carry out hundreds of small-scale, labour-intensive projects to repair and safeguard our built heritage, as well as providing vital support for local jobs in conservation, traditional skills and construction. Details of all projects approved for 2020 are published on my Department's website.

As Deputy Ó Snodaigh said, in 2019, my Department awarded €200,000 in capital funding to St. Patrick's Cathedral under the historic structures fund for works to its roof, to be drawn down as works progressed over the course of 2019 and 2020. This represents the maximum award that can be made under this scheme. In addition, funding has been provided by my Department over the past number of years for work at the boundary walls and at St. Patrick's Close.

My Department has a number of further measures at its disposal to facilitate the restoration of major historical or cultural sites. I am the owner or guardian under the National Monuments Acts of approximately 1,000 national monuments located at some 750 sites, and in such cases there is a statutory duty to maintain the national monument. Such maintenance is undertaken by the Office of Public Works. Local authorities are responsible under the National Monuments Acts for maintaining the national monuments of which they are owners or guardians. A wide range of other monuments, in the order of 130,000, are currently subject to protection under other provisions of the National Monuments Acts but my Department and the Office of Public Works do not have a direct role in their maintenance except where, as already noted, a monument is a national monument of which I am owner or guardian.

I should clarify, in relation to the text of the matter, the definition of "monument" for the purpose of the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 is set out in section 2 of the principal Act of 1930. I note that the definition provides that it does not include any building, or part of any building, that is habitually used tor ecclesiastical purposes such as St. Patrick's Cathedral. The definition of "national monument" is also set out in the Acts. As something must be a monument before it can be considered a national monument, the exclusion of buildings habitually used for ecclesiastical purposes also operates in relation to whether a building can be considered a national monument.

See this speech in context