Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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539. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for an update on the Government-approved National Site of Conscience on the site of the former Magdalene Laundry, Sean MacDermott Street, Dublin; what stage the project is at; the estimated date for commencement of works and completion date; the funding that has been allocated to the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52459/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In March 2022 Government approved high level proposals for the National Centre for Research and Remembrance to be located on the site of the former Magdalen Laundry in Sean McDermott Street, Dublin 1 and to comprise:

• a museum and exhibition space, the development of which will be led by the National Museum of Ireland
• a research centre and repository of records related to institutional trauma in the 20^thcentury, which will form part of the National Archives
• a place for reflection and remembrance
• social housing
• educational and community facilities
• In April 2022 a Steering Group, chaired by Mr Martin Fraser, former Secretary General to the Government and Ambassador to the United Kingdom, was established to drive the overall coordinated development of the National Centre.
• In July 2022, Dublin City Council voted to transfer the site of the former Magdalen Laundry at Sean McDermott Street to the OPW, to be developed as the National Centre. In late 2022 the OPW commenced essential maintenance works on the site to facilitate safe and full access and this work continues.
• In July 2023 Government approved the masterplan for the National Centre campus as well as the preliminary business case for the main National Centre building structures (Museum and Archive). Government also approved, in principle, proposals for the wider National Centre campus as follows:
• social housing, configured to universal design standards and appropriate to the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities within the North East Inner City;
• the development of a lifelong learning hub for the provision of further and higher education and;
• facilities for the provision of community-based family and parenting supports.
• Under the auspices of the Steering Group, extensive work is continuing on the detailed planning and development of the initiative.
• In July 2023 Government also approved proposals to develop communications outreach tools and to proceed with a public consultation as part of the Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy for the National Centre. This included the launch of a website for the National Centre, which contains key information about the development, and an initial open consultation to inform work on the museum, repository and research centre, and garden space for reflection. The consultation ran from July until September 2023. The responses are currently being analysed with a view to publishing a report in early 2024 which will directly inform the ongoing work on the development of the National Centre. Further targeted consultations on specific elements of the National Centre will take place in due course with updates posted on the National Centre website: www.gov.ie/nationalcentre
• The development of the National Centre is multi-annual in nature and is currently in the planning stages. As this planning phase progresses, Government will be in a position to provide an indicative timeline for the project.