Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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608. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason no funding or communication has been allocated for major repair works to a structure (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26270/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Structures at Risk Fund (SRF) supports conservation works to historic structures, in both private and public ownership, which are deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration. The Fund encourages the conservation, regeneration and reuse of heritage properties and helps to secure protected structures which might otherwise be lost. The allocation for the 2018 scheme is €1.3 m.

The 2018 Structures at Risk Fund was announced in November 2017 and open for applications until 31 January 2018. The SRF is generally administered by local authorities, who put forward projects to my Department for funding. These are assessed by an expert panel based on the significance of the structure, urgency of works, quality of method statement and efficacy of works proposed.

A total of 128 applications were received from 30 local authorities and 76 projects were approved, including three projects in the local authority area referred to by the Deputy. Due to the volume of applications received this year, and the high standard of applications generally, it was not possible to fund every eligible project.

Local authorities were informed by letter of 5 April 2018 of the successful and unsuccessful projects. All local authorities then contacted applicants to inform them of the outcome of their application.

I understand that the applicants mentioned by the Deputy were contacted by their local authority and apprised of the outcome of their application. I also understand that the applicants have been in informal contact with my Department and initial feedback on their application has been provided to them. They were advised by my officials to contact the Architectural Conservation Officer in the local authority for more detailed feedback and advice, and this has also been provided. There has been no further correspondence that my Department is aware of in relation to this application.

The best advice for owners, in relation to individual historic structures, is generally to remain in contact with the Architectural Conservation Officer in their local authority, who is well placed to provide advice and assistance in relation to the grant schemes.