Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to hear that there is a little bit of lily white in the Minister of State. I look forward to bringing him down and giving him a full tour of the Curragh when the Covid pandemic is over. I had thought that the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW would be here today, but I accept that this matter crosses over between the Minister of State's Department, the OPW and the Department of Defence. It is disappointing that the Curragh is not being considered at this point for NHA designation. Given the fact that there are over 600 proposed NHAs, surely there should be a graduated process in respect of those that are more significant than others. I ask the Minister of State to look into that. There must be a qualitative vision in place for the future of the Curragh, yet there is not. The Curragh must be given appropriate adequate protection. This is not happening currently.

The current management of the site is of huge concern to me. As I mentioned, it is absolutely falling down. There are many problems. There is an opportunity here to really look at the Curragh and see how we can protect and preserve our natural and built heritage, as the Minister of State said, and also to ensure that it is there for people to use, both as a place of historical interest and also as a leisure and amenity facility. I note what the Minister of State said regarding the county development plan, which has just commenced. An issues paper has been drafted. I will certainly ensure that adequate recognition is given to it during that process.