Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his plans to introduce legislation to compel banks, in particular Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank to deal with the issue of abandoned property held in safe keeping, as much of this property is more than 100 year old it has the potential to be of significant historical and cultural value to the Irish nation, it belongs to either traceable beneficiaries or the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14678/13]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Part IV of the Planning and Development Acts 2000, as amended, provides for the protection of architectural heritage. The Act gives primary responsibility to planning authorities to identify and protect architectural heritage by including them on the Record of Protected Structures. Inclusion on the Record of Protected Structures places a duty of care on the owners and occupiers of protected structures and also gives planning authorities powers to deal with development proposals affecting them and to seek to safeguard their future. This also applies where the owner is a corporate body such as a bank.

I have no plans at the moment to introduce further specific legislation focused on any particular sector.