Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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261. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that churches and places of worship, which are protected structures and have historical and cultural value have received a smaller proportion of the overall heritage grants available in recent years; the action he will take to deal with this issue; if the overall funding for heritage grants will be increased; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33898/22]

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). A third scheme, the Community Monuments Fund (CMF) provides investment in archaeological heritage, including older graveyards.

It is important to note that neither the HSF nor the BHIS aim to allocate set amounts to particular categories of building. Applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, so the total amount allocated to buildings of a particular type will naturally vary from year to year depending on the applications received.

My Department does not routinely record the category of structure funded through these programmes, making it difficult to track over time the proportion of funding going to a particular category. However, taking the 2022 HSF as an example, 17 applications in respect of churches or places of worship were successful and awarded funding totalling €816,640, with some due further funding in 2023. A total of 78 projects were awarded funding under the HSF this year, meaning 22% of projects receiving funding are churches or places of worship. By contrast, churches represent only 6% of buildings on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.

In relation to the overall funding for built heritage, it is worth noting that the BHIS and HSF saw a combined funding increase of €2m (33%) in 2022, while the CMF received an additional €1m (a 25% increase). In the future I would like to see these schemes continue to grow to the extent possible given competing spending priorities.

Further information on the projects funded under the HSF, BHIS and CMF in 2022, can be found at the links below.

www.gov.ie/en/publication/32ae3-financial-assistance-for-architectural-heritage/

www.gov.ie/en/press-release/136b2-minister-noonan-announces-over-4m-in-funding-for-512-built-heritage-projects-across-ireland/

www.gov.ie/en/press-release/b6787-minister-noonan-announces-2022-community-monuments-fund-grants-of-6-million/