Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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952. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she is aware of any plans to restore St. Felim's Workhouse in Cullies in Cavan Town, the former St. Felim's Hospital, which is a listed building; if not, if plans will be made to put it to use in the community as an important heritage building in County Cavan before it falls further into disrepair; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24785/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department has not received an application for funding in respect of St. Felim’s Workhouse.

My role, as Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, 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. Under Part IV of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, each planning authority is required to include a Record of Protected Structures (RPS) in its development plan. Inclusion on the RPS 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.

As the Deputy can appreciate, the scope for funding for the conservation of the built heritage is currently constrained by the significant demands on public finances within the context of a recovering economy that is facing a challenging national and international environment. A number of State financial supports provide for the conservation and preservation of heritage structures in general. However, funding available for 2016 has now been fully allocated through two schemes run by my Department, as set out.

The Structures at Risk Fund enables conservation works to heritage structures, in both private and public ownership, which are protected under the Planning and Development Acts and are deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration. This fund, which amounted to over €900,000 in 2016 and is fully allocated, is administered through the local authorities and seeks to encourage the regeneration and reuse of heritage properties and to help to secure the preservation of protected structures which might otherwise be lost.

I launched a new €2 million scheme - the Built Heritage Investment Scheme - for the repair and conservation of protected structures on 21 October 2015. This scheme will operate in 2016, via the local authorities, on the same model as the very successful Built Heritage Jobs Leverage Scheme, which ran in 2014. It is expected to support a significant number of projects across the country and to create employment in the conservation and construction industries, while helping to regenerate urban and rural areas. The scheme for this year is also fully allocated.

While no decision has been made on schemes for 2017, announcements, if any, will be made towards the end of 2016 or early in 2017 and are again likely to operate via the Local Authorities. The Conservation or Heritage Officer in the local authority will be able to advise regarding funding available for conservation works to structures on the Record of Protected Structures, and it is advisable for interested parties to remain in contact with their local authority on an on-going basis.

The Heritage Council, which my Department funds, also provides grants for the protection and preservation of the built heritage. It is a matter for the Heritage Council to decide how its funding should be allocated across the range of research, education and conservation programmes it supports annually having regard to competing priorities for limited resources. The Council recently awarded funding of over €880,000 to 171 heritage projects nationwide under its 2016 Heritage Management Grant Scheme. Further details of grant schemes available from the Heritage Council can be found at www.heritagecouncil.ie.