I move:
That a Supplementary Estimate not exceeding £10 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ended 31st March, 1966 for certain Miscellaneous Expenses including certain Grants-in-Aid.
Deputies will remember that the Funds of Suitors Act, 1963, provided that up to £50,000 might be made available from unclaimed balances in the Funds of Suitors towards the rebuilding of the Cork Opera House which was destroyed by fire late in 1955. At the same time as that Act was passed the Oireachtas agreed to the scheduling to the State Guarantees Act, 1954, of the Cork Opera House Co., in the sum of £50,000, enabling the Cork Opera House Company to negotiate a long-term bank loan for that sum. The grant and loan, together with a loan of £25,000, from Cork Corporation and the funds raised by private subscription was thought sufficient to meet the full cost of completing the Opera House which was then estimated at £200,000.
Unfortunately, as in the case of the
Abbey Theatre, which was the subject of the last Supplementary Estimate for this Vote, the rise in building costs has made the original estimate obsolete and it is anticipated that £35,000 extra will be needed to meet the cost of completing the building. This is now at the point of completion, the opening being fixed for 31 October, and, accordingly, the final bills will have to be met at an early date.
The directors of the Cork Opera House think that there would be little hope of a fresh appeal to the public raising any significant sum, in particular in view of the fact that £82,000 has already been subscribed from private sources. I have therefore intimated to them that I would approach the Dáil for sanction to a Supplementary Estimate to cover the shortfall and that they might, in view of this, be able to make temporary arrangements with their bankers for accommodation to meet their most pressing needs.
In view of progress on the new Abbey Theatre being slower than expected, the full cost of its completion will not need to be met in the current financial year. I have thus been able to count on a saving this year of at least £35,000 from the £290,000 already voted towards the completion of the Abbey and the vote here presented is for a token of £10 only.
The Minister for Justice has agreed to introduce legislation enabling a further draw to be made on the Funds of Suitors towards the completion of the Abbey Theatre. This will mean that the Exchequer will be recouped any payment made from Subhead A for completion of the new Abbey Theatre.