A flood of applications from owners of historic buildings is anticipated following the announcement yesterday by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, of details of a new conservation grants scheme worth u £3.9 million.
The scheme, which will be administered by the principal local authorities, is designed to assist owners in carrying out conservation works to listed buildings. A sum of u£300,000 has been allocated to enable them to hire conservation officers to assist in assessing applications.
Any building which is listed for preservation qualifies for grant aid. The standard amount will be 50 per cent of the approved cost of works, up to a maximum of £10,000. In exceptional circumstances, a grant of up to 75 per cent of the cost, up to a maximum of £20,000, may be approved.
The Minister pointed out that a wide range of repair and restoration works will qualify for grants under the scheme and he strongly encouraged owners and occupiers of listed buildings to consider what conservation works were now required to their buildings.
Only bona fide conservation works will qualify - not routine maintenance, alterations or improvements. A local authority will carry out two inspections on each application - one before a grant is approved and another before it is paid.
Though it is known that the Department of the Environment had sought a larger amount of money to fund the scheme, Mr Dempsey said the £3.9 million being made available this year would make a substantial start to the conservation programme.
There would be considerable flexibility in establishing the criteria for prioritising applications, and it would be up to elected members to ensure that grants will be focused on the types of listed buildings and conservation works which were of greatest importance locally.
He noted that the grants scheme formed part of a comprehensive package of measures to protect Ireland's architectural heritage, unveiled last year. This package includes new legislation, currently before the Dail, to afford increased protection to listed buildings.
The legislation has already been passed by the Seanad and the Minister hopes it will be enacted before the summer recess. "When the complete package is in place, there will be an immeasurable improvement in the control and support of our architectural heritage," he said.
