Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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759. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the funding available for general maintenance of a church; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19634/21]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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My Department provides financial support for the protection of eligible heritage buildings and historic structures through two grant schemes which are, in the main, administered by the local authorities. These are the Historic Structures Fund (HSF) and the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS).

The HSF is for conservation and enhancement to heritage structures and historic buildings, in both private and public ownership, for the benefit of communities and the public. The BHIS is a scheme for the repair and conservation of structures on the local authority Record of Protected Structures (RPS). 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.

While general maintenance works have not historically been considered eligible works under these schemes, a maintenance micro-grant stream was added to the BHIS in 2020 to increase the resilience of historic structures to withstand the constant effects of climate change. This allows local authorities to make smaller awards to owners of historic properties to carry out routine maintenance to offset the impact of climate change on their buildings.

The BHIS and HSF for 2021 were launched in November 2020, with a combined allocation of €6m, an increase of nearly 40% on 2020. I recently announced the projects to be funded under BHIS and details are available on my Department’s website. The assessments for the HSF are currently under consideration in my Department and I will announce the approved projects shortly.

In the context of a particular building or historic structure, the best advice is generally to contact the Heritage Officer or Architectural Conservation Officer in the local authority who is well placed to advise on the various types of funding available to assist with renovation.