Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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563. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the budget that has been allocated to the Office of Public Works for the maintenance and repair of national monuments for the years 2008 to 2015; if he will provide a list of moneys spent for minor repairs on each of the 780 national monuments for the same years. [13464/16]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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The Heritage Services of the Office of Public Works is responsible for the conservation, care and management of approximately 1,000 National Monuments structures at 780 locations that are in State ownership or guardianship. The conservation and presentation of these monuments involves a mixture of activities including major and minor conservation projects, works to facilitate or improve the presentation and interpretation of sites and ongoing maintenance. The budget allocation for these works from 2008 to 2015 is detailed in Table A.

Table A

In general terms, these works are intended to consolidate National Monument structures in place and, where appropriate and feasible, to carry out certain elective conservation works to enhance the historic value. Given the antiquity of the fabric in the portfolio, a considerable amount of effort is required overall to maintain Monuments in a structurally-stable condition and this consideration demands a significant amount of ongoing effort, often continuing over a period of years.

Apart from fabric issues, there are also general maintenance requirements involving seasonal issues such as grasscutting, weed spraying and bramble removal, painting and whitewashing, small general repairs and preventive maintenance etc. It also involves servicing the guided visitor sites ensuring that they have adequate supplies, maintaining access, signage, fencing etc to required standards and addressing general visitor wear and tear issues.

Table B details the total of all such expenditure each year for the period in question.

Table B

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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564. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of visitors to each of the 780 national monuments that are open to visitors managed by the OPW for the most recent year available and to provide a breakdown of the list by visits to each site. [13465/16]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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The Office of Public Works (OPW) has responsibility for the day-to-day running of all National Monuments and National Historic Properties (i.e. those in State ownership or guardianship). It has a conservation remit to maintain the National Monuments in State care and an active role in facilitating presentation and public access under the terms of the National Monuments Act 1930 which makes provision for the protection and preservation of National Monuments including the admission of the public to National Monuments.

The approach of the OPW Heritage Services is essentially conservation oriented with the bulk of resources dedicated to this end. The vast majority of properties in State care are presented to the public without specific visitor facilities such as a guide service. Public access to heritage attractions has a high priority and much effort has been made to improve access and information at all built heritage sites.

There are a total of almost 1,000 individual National Monuments in State care at approximately 768 locations around the country. These are managed and maintained by the OPW and include both sites which are in full State ownership and others which are privately-owned but where Guardianship arrangements exist and where the OPW provides maintenance services. A small number of sites have National Monuments which are State owned and others which are privately held at the same location.

As a general policy, the OPW facilitates visitor access to as many National Monument sites as possible. However, access is not always feasible because of a range of issues including physical location, risks associated with dangerous structures and restrictions imposed in some cases by landowners who may wish to limit access, either temporarily or more longer term, by reason of accident risk, livestock etc. The OPW would estimate that approximately 10% of the National Monument sites in its care are not accessible at any given time.

As part of its remit, the OPW also provides enhanced visitor access, together with guide facilities in some cases, at approx. 70 of the more prominent visitor locations nationally. These include many of the most iconic heritage sites in the country such as Kilmainham Gaol, the Rock of Cashel, Newgrange etc as well as a number of smaller, less well known properties. In general visitor numbers are only recorded at those sites where there is a guide service. However, there are a small number of sites where footfall counters have been installed. The following table shows all visitor numbers available for 2015.

2015 Visitor Numbers

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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565. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will ensure steps are taken to protect St. Laurence's Gate in Drogheda, County Louth, from being further damaged by vehicular traffic (details supplied); if he will consult with Drogheda Borough Council and have a proper traffic management system in place which will afford full protection to this national monument; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13497/16]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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As I indicated last week to the Deputy, steps are being taken to meet with Louth Co. Council, the Roads Authority for Drogheda, in the near future to discuss the traffic management issues surrounding the St. Laurence’s Gate and officials from my Office and the Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht will be available to participate in those discussions.

OPW staff have already examined the structure and have established that the fabric has not been damaged by the recent incident.