Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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236. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will provide an update on the work of the committee she has established to advise her on Ireland's historic houses; its membership; its date of establishment; the advice it has provided to her in relation to historic houses in County Wicklow, including Russborough House and its contents, which are in trust for the people of Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22836/15]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department has established an Irish Historic Houses Steering Group, the objectives of which is to advise me with regard to strategies to support the sustainable future of larger Irish historic houses, in particular with regard to the complexities of balancing private ownership with public benefit, and to ascertain if existing supports provided by various government Departments, local government, State agencies or non-governmental organisations can be better co-ordinated in order to better support the owners who are the custodians of these properties.

With this in mind and in collaboration with the Irish Historic Houses Association (IHHA), my Department convened a steering group in February of this year, which comprised of owners or their representatives, stakeholders in government Departments and agencies, including heritage organisations active in the sector, to meet on four occasions between March and June to advise my Department in relation to sustainable futures for these houses.

It is expected that a short action plan with recommendations and associated actions will be the outcome of this process. The objectives of a final action plan will be to assist historic houses in general in terms with the on-going protection, management and promotion of these important architectural heritage assets into the future. Given the terms of reference of the steering group, no actions are being considered for individual houses or specific cases. A brief outline of the steering group membership is set out.

Members of the Steering Group for Irish Historic Houses Committee 2015

Co-Chairs:

Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

Irish Historic Houses Association (IHHA)

Representatives from

Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (2)

Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (Tourism Division)

Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (Community division)

Revenue Commissioners (S.482 tax relief unit)

Heritage Council

Local authority representative

Irish Heritage Trust

Irish Georgian Society

Irish Landmark Trust

IHHA nominees (3)

Fáilte Ireland representative

Representative individual house owners (4)