Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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437. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which any particular historical sites or buildings in County Kildare are deemed to be at risk; the action taken or pending to address any such issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4597/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department has a number of measures at its disposal to facilitate the restoration of major historical or cultural sites. Under the National Monuments Acts, the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is the owner or guardian of approximately 1,000 national monuments located at approximately 750 sites and in such cases there is a statutory duty to maintain the national monument. Such maintenance is undertaken by the Office of Public Works. Local authorities are responsible under the National Monuments Acts for maintaining the national monuments of which they are owners or guardians. A wide range of other monuments (in the order of 130,000) are currently subject to protection under other provisions of the National Monuments Acts but my Department and the Office of Public Works do not have a direct role in their maintenance except where, as already noted, a monument is a national monument of which the Minister is owner or guardian.

My role, as Minister, with regard to the protection and management of our architectural heritage, is set out in the provisions of relevant legislation, as is 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. As Minister, I draw on information provided by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, maintained by my Department, to recommend structures for inclusion on the Record of Protected Structures. However, the final decision is a reserved function of the planning authority. I understand that Kildare County Council employs both an architectural conservation officer and a heritage officer. There is also a monuments advisory committee in the county.

In addition to the statutory role of Local Authorities, Financial support is provided by my Department through a number of structured schemes for the conservation and protection of heritage buildings, such as the Structures at Risk Fund, which funded two projects in the county mentioned during 2016, and the Built Heritage Investment Scheme which provided funding for eleven projects in that county during 2016. I was pleased to announce this week that both schemes will run again in 2017 - details are available on the local authority website.

Well maintained historic buildings contribute positively to the vitality of our cities, towns, villages and countryside. Local communities have a great sense of pride in their built heritage, which in turns can help to provide an important source of local employment by boosting tourism.

If the Deputy requires more detail on specific programmes or plans, I will be happy to provide this information.