Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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1443. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if discussions will be held with Tipperary County Council in relation to a site (details supplied) in order to acquire and develop the site as a visitor centre; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36302/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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My Department receives regular requests to acquire sites and to have them maintained, managed and presented to the public by the Office of Public Works (OPW) as national monuments.

National monuments already in State care number some one thousand sites at over 750 locations around the country. These command considerable resource commitments in terms of both funding and manpower and new acquisitions can, therefore, only be considered where a site has rare or unique features that clearly warrant it being taken into State care. Cognisance is also taken of the range of other monuments already in State care in the same general area of which there are a significant number in this particular case.

In these circumstances, my Department, which was in touch with the local authority at the time, did not consider that this property met the relevant criteria when it became available for purchase. I am advised, however, that it appears to have been sold in the meantime and that the new owners have indicated their intention to undertake any necessary conservation works and to also provide visitor facilities on the site. It is listed in the statutory Record of Monuments and Places and, therefore, also continues to be protected by the provisions of the National Monuments Acts 1930-2004.