Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason the Office of Public Works is not employed to carry out the current works at the national monument on Moore Street (details supplied). [31237/16]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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I understand the Government and the State own the buildings at 14, 15, 16 and 17 Moore Street. Yet, a company called CCJV is operating on the site. I got a chance to examine the management flowchart for that site. It sets out exactly where responsibility lies and who people report to. It is clear that the Government is in one place and CCJV is in another, with the other organisations involved working under CCJV. Who owns CCJV? Why is it working on the site? Why is the OPW not managing the site?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The State acquired ownership of the national monument at 14 to 17 Moore Street in July 2015. The aim was to get conservation work under way as speedily as possible with a view to having the proposed 1916 commemorative centre opened during the centenary year. My Department concluded a tendering process that had been initiated when the property was under lien by the National Asset Management Agency. The tenders sought related to proposals for the conservation and restoration of these buildings, for which consent had been given by my predecessor under section 14 of the National Monuments Act in April 2014. My Department subsequently awarded a contract to carry out these works after a detailed assessment, including a process audit, multi-criteria analysis and independent legal advice. My Department established a steering committee to guide the project. The committee includes representatives of the Office of Public Works and the National Museum of Ireland.

The skilled workforce employed by OPW Heritage Services is focused on the care and maintenance of national monuments in State care. These include iconic sites such as Newgrange, Clonmacnoise, the Rock of Cashel and Skellig Michael. The key skills and strengths of OPW lie in the conservation of ancient fabric and structures in such places.

I am advised that in cases where works to heritage buildings of more recent origin are concerned, for example, the recently-completed visitor centre at Kilmainham Gaol, OPW will generally utilise the services of experienced construction companies that possess the necessary skills and expertise to work on listed, heritage and protected structures. I understand that the contractor employed on the Moore Street site was responsible for key phases of the stabilisation of the structure of Kilmainham Courthouse. This enabled the building to be adapted as a visitor centre as one of the permanent reminders under the Ireland 2016 centenary programme. The same contractor has also been employed by OPW on other heritage projects, including the refurbishment of Killarney House for my Department.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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The Moore Street battlefield site is the most important such site in contemporary Irish history. In many ways, it represents the collision of two Irelands, the Celtic tiger developer Ireland and the selfless sacrifice of the Volunteers of 1916, colliding in one space. It has been a long-running sore. I am very concerned about the role of CCJV because I understand it is an associate company of some sort of Chartered Land, the previous owner of the property. If I bought a property, it would be strange for the previous owners to be still working on it years after I made the purchase. I am trying to understand why that would be the case. We have already tabled parliamentary questions on this matter. If the company is working on a Government site, the Minister should know who owns it and to whom it is affiliated. That would give us a better understanding of the motivations of a particular company because if the company is working for a previous owner and the owner of the general site on which the project is situated it does not give us full confidence that it is working to the objectives of the State.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Our contract is with Lissadell Construction, which is carrying out the work. It is a highly respected heritage builder and the OPW uses it regularly on different sites. It is respected for the level of its expertise in that area.

The Deputy received a chart detailing the construction and multidisciplinary team of professional experts involved in the work. CCJV is an affiliate single purpose entity set up as a special purpose vehicle. It oversees and manages boundary arrangements, including security elements, utilities interface, access, rights of way and intellectual property, IP, between the national monument project and adjacent properties, and its interface with planning permissions, consents and so forth. It is not involved in the restoration work which is under the instruction of the courts. Lissadell is doing the work but this is a special purpose vehicle to deal with the other issues.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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We received a brief outline of the management flow of a particular project and the interface between the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and the rest of the project, under CCJV, which is an affiliate of Chartered Land, the company that wants to build a gigantic shopping centre on that space. This is at the heart and the crux of the battle between this State and that developer over recent years. It shocks me that the State is paying an affiliate of Chartered Land in respect of what is our property. There is no way that if I purchased a house, the previous owners would still be managing its development.

It seems the High Court will decide on the future of this project in December 2017. It will then be up to the Government to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court if it so desires. It may also appeal it to the European Court of Justice. As a result, the site will remain under-developed, in a state of dereliction although a good bit of conservation work has been done to it but it will be empty and useless in contrast to the resource that it could be in the heritage quarter there. Is it the Government's objective, if it loses the High Court appeal, to proceed to the Supreme Court and to the European Court of Justice?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As I have explained, the judgment affects not only Moore Street but all national monuments in my care and how they are managed on my behalf by the OPW. I am also advised that all development, including housing, schools, roads, pipelines and hospital projects, could be put at risk. This judgment was appealed because it was going to have a significant impact across the country on essential infrastructure projects. I brought a memorandum to Cabinet and got very clear advice that this decision needed to be appealed because it would affect many projects across the country.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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If the Government loses in the Supreme Court will it go to Europe?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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We have to await the outcome of this decision first.