Vol. 468 No. 4
289 Mrs. O'Rourke asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if he will review the case of funding made by him by the Committee of the All-Ireland Amateur Drama Festival for much-needed funds for the refurbishment and renovation to St. Peter's Hall, Athlone, County Westmeath; and if he will make a sufficient financial allocation to ensure that Athlone remains the centre of the All-Ireland Amateur Drama Movement. [15566/96]
The only funds at my disposal to assist applications of this nature are under the Cultural Development Incentives Scheme which I am administering under the Operational Programme for Tourism 1994-1999.
I intend to advertise this autumn for the submission of applications for the final stage of the CDIS for which I expect to be able to allocate grant assistance of the order of £5 million towards successful projects. It will be open to project promoters to submit applications for consideration in response to that advertisement.
I should add that An Comhairle Ealaíon continues to make capital grants available for projects involving refurbishment and renovation and it is open to the promoters of St. Peter's Hall, Athlone, to seek assistance from this source.
