Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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115. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if funds will be provided to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for the maintenance and development of Dún Laoghaire Harbour in line with her Department's priorities to support the heritage and cultural infrastructure of the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39841/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides financial support for the protection of heritage buildings and historic structures through a number of schemes which are generally administered by local authorities.

The Built Heritage Investment Scheme is a scheme for the repair and conservation of protected structures (i.e. structures on the local authority Record of Protected Structures). It is designed to leverage private capital for investment in small scale conservation projects across the country and to support the employment of skilled conservation professionals and tradespeople. I have allocated funding of €2m in total for this Scheme in 2018. In addition the Structures at Risk Fund, with funding of €1.3m in 2018, enables conservation works to heritage structures, in both private and public ownership, which are deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration.

The closing date for the 2018 schemes has now passed and I am informed that no application has been submitted in respect of structures at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Details of the projects approved under both funding schemes are published on my Department’s website and on local authority websites. The development of the harbour generally is not the type of investment contemplated by the initiatives referred to earlier and such large utility and transport projects are best addressed by Departments resourced to respond strategically.

In terms of future funding, Investing in our Culture, Language and Heritage 2018 – 2027 represents a major capital investment scheme of €1.2 billion in funding over the next 10 years, as part of Project Ireland 2040. This plan will see increased investment in protecting and celebrating our built heritage across the country. More details on the commencement and completion dates for projects and programmes, as well as the timing of the expenditure in relation to them, will emerge as we go through the process of appraisal and planning as required under the Public Spending Code.