Vol. 482 No. 1
36 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the current position regarding tendering for the National Conference Centre; when it is expected that construction will commence; if he has satisfied himself that EU funding for the project is secure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17184/97]
The present position with the national conference centre project is that, following a Government decision, a new tender procedure has commenced, administered by Bord Fáilte under the aegis of the independent management board for product development.
The new tender procedure which will be conducted in accordance with EU Council Directive 93/37/EEC followed on consultations between my Department and the relevant EU officials. It is open to private or public sector applicants and in accordance with the requirements of the Operational Programme for Tourism, 1994-99 the location of the centre will be Dublin.
The first step in the new tender procedure was the publication of a Prior Indicative Notice, or PIN, in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 6 September. This was followed by the tender procedure notice, which was published in the Official Journal on 13 September. The notice was also published in the Irish daily newspapers on 16 September.
This notice invited applicants to submit requests to participate in the tender procedure by 5 p.m. last Monday, 20 October. By 31 October, "Invitation to Tender" documentation will be dispatched by Bord Fáilte to selected applicants, following which those applicants will have three months to submit their tender i.e. by the end of January next year following which the tenders will be assessed.
In relation to the related issues of EU funding and the likely completion date, I would refer Deputies to paragraph 4 of the tender procedure notice which points out that while the final date for taking account of expenditure for projects under the Operational Programme for Tourism, 1994-99 is 31 December 2000, there is provision for a member state to request the Commission to extend the time limits by not more than one year. If an extension of more than one year is requested, a formal Commission decision is required. No expenditure incurred after the agreed end date may be taken into account for the purposes of Structural Fund assistance.
The maximum amount of that assistance is 33 million ECUs with an aid rate of up to 50 per cent for private sector projects. In the case of a public or similar body, there is provision for the aid rate to be reviewed by the monitoring committee for the Operational Programme, with the maximum aid rate possible in this category being 75 per cent.
As I have stated on a number of occasions, I personally, and the Government as a whole, attach a very high priority to the establishment of a national conference centre, as set out in the Government's joint programme, An Action Plan for the Millennium and I will do everything possible to ensure that this crucial piece of tourism infrastructure is progressed to completion.
