Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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52. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when the proposed national centre for research and remembrance will open in Dublin; his plans for remembrance centres in other locations around the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43209/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The National Centre for Research and Remembrance will comprise a museum and exhibition space, a research centre and repository of records related to institutional trauma in the 20th century, a place for reflection and remembrance, social housing, further and higher educational facilities, and community-based family and parenting support facilities.

The development of the National Centre is multi-annual in nature. A Steering Group, chaired by Mr Martin Fraser, former Secretary General to the Government and Ambassador to Great Britain, was established in April 2022 to drive the overall coordinated development of the National Centre.

In July 2022 Dublin City Council voted to transfer the site to the OPW. The OPW is continuing essential maintenance works on the site to facilitate safe and full access and necessary building surveys. In July 2023, Government approved the masterplan for the National Centre campus and a preliminary business case for the main National Centre buildings. In March 2024 it approved the preliminary business case for the full National Centre Campus.

Extensive work is continuing on the development of a detailed project plan, including timelines for development, with a number of Government departments and agencies acting in partnership. It is anticipated that an application for planning permission will be submitted shortly, with construction to commence in 2025.

Although physically situated in Dublin, the potential for outreach, regional and international connections will be an important element of the National Centre. There will be engagement with local museums and community spaces, like libraries, and travelling exhibitions to ensure people can access museum content from different locations. This content will be co-curated with survivors and will form an important element of the overall programme for the National Centre. As promised in the whole of Government Action Plan, the potential for online access to content will also be explored.