Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht bheith anseo inniu. I have a very simple question and I would like a very simple answer to it. When is the State going to open the 1916 commemorative centre at 14-17 Moore Street? The address was the last headquarters of the 1916 leaders - Pearse, Connolly and others. It is more than 100 years ago. We celebrated the centenary in 2016. Since I was first elected to the city council in 2004, I have worked with relatives of those involved in 1916, street traders, the city council and Members of the Oireachtas from all parties and none. There is a very strong proposal to develop a State-run heritage-focused 1916 commemorative centre. As a member of the ministerial advisory committee, I was very proud to work with others and we produced a report, which was adopted by the Government. We have repeatedly been promised a start date. This is the fourth time that I have raised the issue as a Commencement matter in the past year or so. I have raised it at Oireachtas joint committee meetings and within my own party.Therefore, the Minister of State will appreciate the level of disappointment and frustration. We had a great moment when the Government assigned €12 million in urban regeneration funding and endorsed and adopted the ministerial advisory report. That report made several recommendations, all of which are practical and pragmatic and all of which would lead us directly to the State provision of a commemorative centre.

The city council had an action plan. When I was on the city council, I chaired the expert group that proposed ensuring a sustainable model for street trading. I am glad the city council has made good progress on that. I invite everybody to visit the street market in Moore Street, particularly over the coming weekends, when it will operate not for six days per week, as is traditional, but for seven. It will be operating on a Sunday.

To get to the crux of this Commencement matter, we still have a blank and a scene of inactivity and neglect at 14-17 Moore Street. The OPW has promised that a design team will commence work, but we have been listening to promises for many months. In July, when the relevant Minister of State came to the House to deal with the last Commencement matter I raised on this subject, he promised that works would commence within weeks and that he would come to Moore Street with me and others to inspect the site and discuss our plans for it. It is with real regret that I have had to raise this Commencement matter today because it was my hope and that of many others that the works would commence and that there would be no need for us to be talking about this here anymore. I had hoped to witness the works proceeding on Moore Street.

I appreciate this matter does not fall under the portfolio or Department of the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, and I appreciate his being here, but I really hope the relevant Minister of State and OPW have sent him here with a positive response and that he will be able to advise the House on a firm date for the commencement of the works so we can anticipate a date for the opening of a State-run 1916 commemorative centre at 14-17 Moore Street.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, who, unfortunately, cannot be here. He has asked me to send his apologies. I will convey to him the Senator's comments. I am aware that the Senator has raised this issue consistently, has a great interest in it and has been very committed to it. She raised it most recently in July of this year.

The future of the historic buildings at 14–17 Moore Street has been at the centre of a vigorous debate for several years, and a considerable amount of effort has been expended both inside and outside government to reach a consensus on how to proceed. Following the publication of the Moore Street Advisory Group's third and final Securing History report in May 2021, the path ahead was made much clearer. Following extensive consultation, the Government earlier this year adopted a key decision to instruct the OPW to proceed with a project to conserve the houses and create a 1916 commemorative centre, allowing people to visit the site and participate in this important part of our country's history.

As the Minister indicated previously in this Chamber, while the OPW has been curating the site since 2019, its focus up to this point has been on keeping the monument safe and secure until a decision could be made on its future. Following the Government decision earlier this year, the OPW has moved forward substantively on implementing its mandate and has been working on developing a project to meet the vision outlined in the advisory group's report.

As the Minister of State informed the Seanad in July, the OPW has been focused first and foremost on resourcing the project properly, with a professional design team, led by an in-house expert technical team from the OPW, supplemented through the appointment of additional external technical services teams, including project managers, architects, engineers and cost specialists, who will help manage the works on the ground and fully deliver the project. When the Minister of State addressed the matter here in July, it was hoped the OPW would be in a position to conclude the relevant formalities with these professionals within a relatively short space of time, enabling them to begin substantively on the key design preparation work that needs to be done before contractors can be engaged and work started on site. While progress has been made, this schedule has, unfortunately, proven too optimistic, and most of the formal appointments have not yet been concluded.

The delay in formal appointments for the technical team has occurred due to the complexity of ensuring the various parties to the multiple individual contracts concerned - between the OPW on one side and seven separate companies on the other - will be completely clear as to their roles and responsibilities in the process. As a result, this process has taken longer to conclude than anticipated.

I can inform the Senator that progress has been made regarding the design team. The individual technical team members have been identified, a scope-of-service arrangement has been agreed, and terms of service, including the commercial aspects, have been set out.

Looking forward, the OPW considers these matters to be very significantly advanced and will appoint the individual team members as soon as possible. However, the OPW is not in a position at this stage to commit to a specific date, but the matter is being treated as a priority.

I wish to take this opportunity to address another matter that I trust will be of interest to the Senator. It relates to the appointment of a professional design consultant for the interpretation and exhibition element of the project. This is a significant element of the project and will represent a critical part of the design team. This commitment is being tendered publicly, allowing creative teams and companies that specialise in this kind of work to submit proposals for consideration by a joint assessment panel comprising key members of the project steering group. A tender specification for this work has been created and it will be a short-term priority for the OPW - in parallel with appointing the other members of the technical team - to advertise for this speciality service and make an appointment as soon as is feasible.

The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, has informed me of his intention to visit the Moore Street national monument and will ensure every effort will be made to advance works.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge the progress made and do not want to be entirely dismissive. Significant appointments of professionals have been made. Seven professional services are to be negotiated with and are to engage in the project. It is important that we get the best and most-expert professionals involved in creating the 1916 commemorative centre. It is important that the centre be the best in its class. When the State invests in and does its best for a project, it does deliver its best. We have many fine examples of this. However, I have to ask the Minister of State to go back to the OPW and express to it that those of us on this side are exceedingly frustrated over the glacial speed. When I say "those of us on this side", I do not mean those of us in this Chamber but the people on Moore Street, the people of our city more generally and the people from all over the country who travel to Moore Street to see the last headquarters of the 1916 Rising. They cannot fathom what is happening. They appreciate that there is debate and that it may have been hard to gain consensus, but we now have consensus and a report with consensus. We have a consensus on having a State-run 1916 commemorative centre that will be the best in its class at 14-17 Moore Street. Those concerned need to get on with it. He who hesitates is lost. At present, the State is lost on this issue. It must accelerate its efforts. I ask the Minister of State to bring that message back to the relevant Minister.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for her comments. I will bring her views back to the Minister of State but will also respond in his absence. I recognise that there has been a delay in this matter and I share the Senator's disappointment that the early projections shared with her last July have turned out to be optimistic. However, it needs to be recognised that this is a very complicated undertaking involving a significant financial and technical commitment. Given the importance of the buildings and their status as a national monument, the OPW is focusing on making sure the project succeeds to the best possible extent and addresses the expectations of so many parties who have contributed to this solution. The site at 14–17 Moore Street has been waiting in what I would categorise as an extended limbo – the Senator used the word "glacial" in this regard – for almost six years since 2016.It has been the focus of much work and discussion ever since. Given this, the OPW was careful to provide precipitous arrangements and took care to address these matters carefully with all professional consultant parties involved before entering a substantial binding legal and financial commitment.

I fully accept the Senator’s position that it is now time to move forward and realise the project as soon as possible, as the OPW was instructed. The Senator will remain committed to this product, as indeed will the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I welcome our visitors to the Gallery. They are very welcome to the Seanad.