Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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279. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the application under the built heritage investment scheme by a school (details supplied); the basis for the refusal of this application; if this building qualifies under the terms of the grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49386/25]

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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The National Built Heritage Service (NBHS) within my Department provides financial support for the protection of eligible heritage buildings and historic structures through the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) and the Historic Structures Fund (HSF), which are both, in the main, administered by the local authorities. The BHIS provides grants of between €2,500 and €50,000 for a wide range of conservation works. The window for applications under the BHIS for 2026 is currently open. The HSF provides grants of between €50,000 and €200,000 for similar works at a larger scale. The application window for the HSF is expected to open later this year.

I understand that the applicant in question applied for funding for this structure under the Historic Structures Fund (HSF) 2025 rather than the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS). Under BHIS, each local authority receives an allocation of funds from my Department based on the proportion of structures on their Register of Protected Structures (RPS) when compared to the national total. Each local authority can award funding to eligible applications within their area that meet the terms and conditions of the BHIS circular.

By contract, the HSF is a nationally competitive scheme, whereby local authorities present a shortlist of eligible applications for consideration to my Department each year. The standard of conservation projects received is always very high and the scheme is always over-subscribed. For the 2025 awards, each local authority could present up to three privately owned structures for consideration. These are assessed at a national level by officials from the NBHS within my Department, with 28 projects ultimately being awarded funding for 2025 last March.

It is my understanding that the structure in question was not selected as one of the three privately owned projects to be put forward by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for consideration at a national level last year, and so my Department was not involved in this decision.

The applicant is welcome to apply again for the HSF when the window opens later this year. However, they may also wish to apply for the BHIS, which is also overseen by this Department and administered by the Local Authorities, and for which funding is competed for at a local rather than national level. The window for applications for the BHIS is currently open, with a closing date for applications to reach the relevant local authority of 26 September 2025.