Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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296. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if works as provided for under the built heritage investment scheme for Tipperary County Council to mitigate issues of damp in the structure of Knocklofty House, Clonmel, County Tipperary, as referenced in HPLG-MoSN-00491-2021 are scheduled to proceed; the reason that work has not commenced to-date; if engagement with all relevant stakeholders to maintain the structure has taken place; the details in relation to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57668/22]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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My role with regard to the protection and management of our architectural heritage is set out in the provisions of relevant legislation, as are the roles of local authorities and the responsibilities of owners.

Part IV of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, gives primary responsibility to local authorities to identify and protect the architectural heritage by including particular structures on the Record of Protected Structures (RPS). The inclusion of a structure on Tipperary County Council's RPS places a duty of care on the owners and occupiers of the structure and also gives the Council powers to deal appropriately with development proposals affecting it and to safeguard its future.

Under the 2022 Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS), all 31 local authorities were allocated grant funding and asked to nominate awards to a number of heritage projects, for approval by my Department. The project at Knocklofty House was one such project nominated by Tipperary County Council and approved by my Department. However officials in my Department have recently been informed that the Knocklofty House project will not proceed this year.

This was a decision made at the discretion of Tipperary County Council, which has responsibility for administering the BHIS on my Department's behalf. However, Tipperary County Council will be able to advise further.