Seán Conlan (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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249. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her obligations to protect structures of architectural heritage from falling into a state of endangerment in contravention of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2010; the steps her Department will take to ensure that the owner occupier operates in compliance with the Planning and Development Acts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18948/15]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My role, as Minister for Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht, with regard to the protection and management of our architectural heritage, is set out in the provisions of relevant legislation, as are the role of local authorities and the responsibilities of owners as regards heritage assets. Part IV of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, provides for the protection of architectural heritage. The Act gives primary responsibility to planning authorities to identify and protect the architectural heritage by including relevant structures 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.

There are also a number of ways in which my Department is made aware of possible risk to protected structures, sites or monuments, one of these being the receipt of applications for funding for their repair, conservation, preservation or safeguarding.

In that regard, funding for the protection of heritage sites and buildings continues to be provided by my Department, from within available resources, through schemes that are either directly administered, or delivered through local authorities or through the Heritage Council. I recently announced the awarding of €624,000 in funding under the Structures at Risk Fund 2015, to enable conservation works to 28 heritage structures throughout the country, in both private and public ownership, deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration and which are protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended.