Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 15: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of heritage sites throughout the country which are protected under various criteria on a county basis; the number of such sites that are not protected; the number and location of any such sites in respect of which protection or preservation orders are pending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21816/11]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The conservation principles of care and protection of the architectural heritage are set out in Part IV of the Planning & Development Act 2000, as amended. Under the Act, planning authorities have a clear obligation to create a record of protected structures.

There are 2,908 monuments recorded in the Register of Historic Monuments and there are approximately 120,000 further monuments recorded in the Record of Monuments and Places and these are protected under the National Monuments Acts. Both the Record and the Register are maintained by my Department. There are 757 national monument sites in my ownership or guardianship – the number of individual monuments is greater as some of these sites contain a number of monuments. There are 490 national monuments protected by Preservation Orders. Currently, there are no monuments subject to temporary preservation orders and there are no preservation orders pending. While a breakdown by county is not readily available across this very large number of sites, a considerable amount of detail is contained on my Department's website at www.archaeology.ie.

Sites designated by my Department for their natural heritage interest include 423 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), 153 Special Protection Areas (SPAs), 155 Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs), 7 Refuges for Fauna, 78 Nature Reserves and 6 National Parks. Detailed information on these sites, including information on the nature conservation associated with each, is available on a county basis on the National Parks and Wildlife Service website at www.npws.ie.

The number of heritage sites that are not currently protected is not easily defined. New research, surveys and inventories inform where and what protection is offered. Other factors include refinements to the extent of a site boundary, changes to its qualifying interests and the relationship of the individual elements of the site – they may enjoy protection as a group or individually.