James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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602. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if any State funding is available for conservation works at a built heritage structure at risk (details supplied) in County Longford whose main building is nearly 400 years old, in view of the importance of the building to Ireland's built heritage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41895/15]

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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607. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps she will take to save a built heritage structure at risk (details supplied) in County Longford; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41543/15]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 602 and 607 together.

Funding is provided by my Department through a number of schemes for the conservation and protection of heritage buildings. This funding is either directly administered or delivered through local authorities and certain agencies. My Department is currently operating a Structures at Risk Fund to enable conservation works to heritage structures, in both private and public ownership, protected under the Planning and Development Acts 2000, as amended, which are deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration. This fund, which has an allocation of €624,000 in 2015, is administered through the local authorities and encourages the regeneration and reuse of heritage properties and helps to secure the preservation of protected structures which might otherwise be lost. This fund, which is now closed, was open to two applications per local authority. My Department did not receive any formal application for funding under the Structures at Risk Fund 2015 from Longford County Council for the structure referred to by the Deputy.

The Heritage Council, which my Department funds, also provides grants for the protection and preservation of the built heritage. For 2015 the Council administered a community based heritage grants scheme with funding of €547,000 available for projects that contribute to particular heritage themes. While I understand that applications have closed for their 2015 scheme, the Council may be able to advise if the structure would be eligible for funding now or in the future. The Heritage Council’s website is .

The remainder of my Department’s built heritage capital budget for 2015 is focused on the conservation and presentation of the State's heritage portfolio, which is managed by the Office of Public Works.

I recently announced a new €2 million investment scheme for the repair and conservation of protected structures. This fund will operate in 2016, via the Local Authorities, on the same model as the very successful Built Heritage Jobs Leverage Scheme (BHJLS), which ran in 2014, and is expected to support a significant number of projects across the country and create employment in the conservation and construction industries, while helping to regenerate urban and rural areas. This announcement will come as a welcome boost to the custodians of heritage properties. Local authorities are required to submit a provisional schedule of projects to my Department by 16^thDecember 2015 and all queries in this regard should be made with the relevant local authority as applicable.

With respect to other possible funding, my Department is currently considering the funding available for the protection and conservation of the built heritage in 2016 in the context of its overall allocation and I will publish details of funding schemes for 2016 as soon as these are finalised.