Vol. 408 No. 2
15 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Education if she has any plans to provide for a national sports complex in the Phoenix Park or at any other location; and her views on whether this would be a suitable project for national lottery funds.
The Government have approved the establishment of a national indoor sports centre to be located on a 12-acre site in the Custom House Docks area of Dublin with funding from the national lottery.
There are no plans to provide a national sports complex in the Phoenix Park. Ongoing discussions have been taking place with the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Football Association of Ireland and Irish Rugby Football Union with regard to the development of a national outdoor stadium. Pending the outcome of those discussions I am not in a position to give any details of the proposals for an outdoor stadium.
Has all the land been acquired now for the national indoor stadium? Has a start off date been decided? Will it be 1991 or 1992? How much money is available at the moment for the construction of the stadium?
The major portion of the land has now been acquired. There is a very small amount of land still to be acquired but since the last time we discussed the issue agreement was reached with the major land owner without redress to the courts. Regarding the start up date, the planning scheme is being prepared at present in order to satisfy the planning requirements of Dublin Corporation and the second stage brief has been completed. The consortia will be given approximately four months to submit their detailed planning, management and financial proposals on the centre. At that point they will be examined and work will be ready to commence. It is impossible at this point to give a date. The Government have provided approximately £9 million this year towards the completion of the purchase of the site and the provision of moneys for the start up of the facility.
Can the Minister expand on what consortia are entrusted with the building of the stadium?
Four consortia were chosen out of a possible eight who had sent in submissions. The four are multinational consortia with Irish arms. I do not have the specific details of each one at this point, but each of the four include among them some of the top architects in the world in stadium development and some of the top facility management companies from both the US and Europe in addition to Irish building contractors and developers.
