Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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88. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if, following Dublin City Council's rejection of the proposed Moore Street land swap with a private developer, she plans to initiate a full and independent battlefield site survey of the Moore Street area; and if she will bring together all relevant parties with the intention of developing a new plan to protect, preserve and develop this historic quarter of our city. [47012/14]

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Following Dublin City Council's rejection of the proposed Moore Street land swap will the Minister initiate a full independent battlefield site survey of the Moore Street area? Will she now bring together all relevant parties with the intention of developing a new plan to protect, preserve and develop the historic quarter?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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A comprehensive assessment has already been carried out as part of the application for consent under the National Monuments Acts for the proposed restoration of the buildings and the provision of a 1916 commemorative centre on the Moore Street national monument site. The methodology for the assessment was drawn up and agreed in advance by my Department's national monuments service and by the director of the National Museum of Ireland. The assessment was carried out by an eminent archaeologist and historian. I am satisfied with the quality and results of the research. I do not propose to seek any further assessment of the area.

I am disappointed that Dublin City Council decided not to support the proposal that recently went before it, whereby the council would exchange two modern 1990s buildings at Nos. 24 and 25 Moore Street, currently used as a cleansing depot, in return for full ownership of the national monument at Nos. 14 to 17 being transferred to the city council. The transfer would have been accompanied by NAMA funding to cover the full cost of the restoration project and the proposed commemorative centre for which consent was given under the National Monuments Acts in April 2014. I believe the proposal provided a real opportunity to have the project completed and the commemorative centre open in time for the centenary of the Rising in 2016.

Following the decision to reject the proposal, it is now a matter for the City Council and the monument owners to consider the implications for the national monument buildings, for the NAMA funding for the restoration project and for the centenary commemorations in 2016. The granting of the consent under the National Monuments Acts in April 2014 essentially completed my Department’s functions in this case. I will, however, continue to support all appropriate initiatives to secure the restoration of the national monument, consistent with my statutory function under the National Monuments Acts and with the roles and responsibilities of the other interested parties. In that context, tomorrow morning I will meet the members of Dublin City Council’s Moore Street advisory committee to go through the process with them and to encourage them to try to advance a solution that would see the restoration project proceeding.

Responsibility for planning and development of the area outside the bounds of the national monument at Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street rests with the planning authority, Dublin City Council.

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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There are many people who will not only be disappointed in the Minister's position that the land-swap deal rejected by Dublin City Council was appropriate, but will be astonished to learn that she deemed the plan to demolish most of the Moore Street terrace as an opportunity. The Government consistently lacks ambition. It is beyond disappointing that the Minister's response to Dublin City Council's decision to respect and preserve the historic site in its entirety in preparation for the 1916 centenary celebrations has been so churlish.

The Minister said that following the council's vote to reject the land-swap deal, progression of the Moore Street project is now a matter solely for the council. I note she said that she has a meeting tomorrow. However, she needs to clarify the statement. If the Government is dropping the Moore Street project ahead of the 1916 centenary celebrations, the Minister needs to be straight about it. She has already managed to raise the ire of the 1916 signatory families in her meeting with them.

Joe O'Reilly (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Deputy,-----

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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To use the Minister's words, it was a heated exchange. The families presented evidence of the historic significance of the buildings that the council is seeking to preserve. I find it surprising that the Minister would so readily have washed her hands of it.

Joe O'Reilly (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will get to ask another supplementary question later.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I wish to correct the record. I never used the words "heated exchange" because I did not have a heated exchange with anybody. My door has been open and I have met a number of the relatives - I will speak about that later.

I have indicated that a detailed assessment has already been carried out and I am entirely satisfied with the quality and findings of the research done. In January 2012, my Department asked the consent applicant, Chartered Land, which owns the national monument, 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 work included a battlefield assessment, inspections and fabric investigations of an area incorporating the block formed by Moore Street, O'Rahilly Parade, Moore Lane and Henry Place and some of the area south of Henry Place extending back towards Henry Street. The report, research, inspections and investigations reinforce the primary status of Nos. 14 to 17, most notably due to the degree to which the pre-1916 physical fabric survives and continues to convey an authentic and legible historical sense of the place within which the final critical hours of the Rising took place and how these buildings stand in marked contrast to the degree to which historical fabric within the wider urban landscape no longer survives.

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I do not believe the Minister's response is good enough. Those who went before us and secured the future of the State deserve much better. I suspect the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, if they are looking down on us, would care little for the Minister's sense of disappointment and are bewildered by her abandonment of such an important project that they would not only celebrate our past but play an important role in articulating the vision we have as a nation for our future.

It is unhelpful to state that the granting of the consent under the National Monuments Acts completes the Department's involvement in the project.

I ask the Minister to reconsider her position and instead pledge a full and independent battlefield sites survey of the Moore Street area bringing together all relevant parties with the intention of developing a new plan to protect, preserve and develop this historic quarter of our city.

If it is the case that the Minister is intent, on behalf of the Government, on abandoning the Moore Street project - as envisaged by the majority of Dublin City Council who represent the citizens of our capital city - will she state this clearly?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I want to be clear that I am not abandoning the Moore Street project. As I said, I was disappointed when the decision was arrived at by the city council. I have met with both groups of relatives, one of which is entirely supportive of the proposals for the national monument. They are keen that it should progress.

I have also met with Dublin City Council's Moore Street advisory committee and am meeting them again tomorrow morning to discuss the matter further in light of the vote on the land swap. The land swap would have put the national monument and the fully restored 1916 commemorative centre into the city council's ownership and under its management.

I have also visited the national monument myself and have been through the entire site. During the visit, I spoke to a number of traders on the street who are supportive of the plans for the monument itself and the proposals to redevelop the wider area. The matter is now fundamentally in the hands of Dublin City Council and the monument owners but I will do everything I can to encourage progress with the project.