Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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30. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent of his contact with the Dublin Civic Trust regarding the rejuvenation of Dublin’s Georgian squares; if his Department has any plans in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38480/13]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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As part of its role in promoting and protecting Ireland's heritage, my Department has an interest in seeing the rejuvenation of Dublin’s Georgian Squares: Parnell and Mountjoy on the northside, and Merrion, Fitzwilliam and St Stephen’s Green on the southside. In this capacity, officials from my Department participated in a recent conference on the Georgian Squares run by the Dublin Civic Trust, which was organised to consider the future of the Squares.

My Department has also been involved in a number of other activities in relation to Dublin's Georgian Squares, including:

-participating in a study on the ‘Future of the South Georgian Core’, which sought to promote innovative ideas to encourage more people and families to start living in the area once again; and

-participating in the ‘Merrion Square Innovation Network’, a creative initiative, enabled by Fáilte Ireland and driven by the community and organisations on or around Merrion Square, which have come together to celebrate and promote the Square as a vibrant cultural tourism destination in the city.

The importance of Dublin’s historic core is also recognised by the inclusion of the Historic City of Dublin on Ireland’s current Tentative List for World Heritage status, which was prepared by my Department. Last week, I hosted a conference for local authorities and community groups to consider the interest in pursuing full nomination of World Heritage Status for these sites, including Dublin. My aim is to encourage consultation within local communities and support local effort for the nomination of world heritage status where that is sought.

Fieldwork for the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage survey of Dublin City, being undertaken by my Department, is also in progress. In recognition of its historical neglect, the first area to be recorded includes Mountjoy and Parnell Squares. I intend that this comprehensive survey of the City will be published in stages over the next few years.

Finally, while funding for heritage related projects is currently constrained, I was pleased to be able to allocate some resources to a Structures at Risk Fund in 2011, 2012 and 2013 to enable conservation works to heritage structures, in both private and public ownership, deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration and which are protected under the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2012. In 2012 grant aid of €15,000 was allocated for conservation works to 65 and 66 Mountjoy Square under this Fund.