A FIANNA Fail TD has asked why the Department of Foreign Affairs, Iveagh House, St Stephen's Green, and the Department of Education, on Marlborough Street, Dublin, are not open to the public.
Mr Eoin Ryan, the party spokesman on ecology and urban renewal, said if the White House and Buckingham Palace, "not to mention the Department of the Taoiseach", could cope with tour groups, he believed Iveagh House and the Department of Education should follow suit.
Attacking the Government for failing to fulfil its commitments to preserve "our built heritage", he said the Finance Bill "effectively reneged" on putting in place measures to ensure that owners of historic properties "have the means to secure the fabric and interiors of their buildings".
He described as "ridiculous" the insistence that houses qualifying for "very small reliefs" have to be open to the public for 60 days a year. Access should be based on occasional visits by approved groups or a limited number of open days a year.
He said his Local Government (Mandatory Listing of Historic Buildings and Protection of Historic Interiors) Bill 1997 would give "effective legislative protection to our built heritage, in particular the interior of buildings".