Vol. 532 No. 1
39 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if he will commission an expert group of persons from outside the jurisdiction to assess and report on the future need for sports stadia before any irrevocable decision is made regarding the national stadium element of Sports Campus Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6797/01]
The Government's decision to proceed with the provision of a campus of sporting excellence, including a stadium capable of accommodating major international events at Abbotstown, was informed by a feasibility study undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The study concluded that "only the proposed National Stadium will possess sufficient amenities together with the surrounding infrastructure to satisfy the ever increasing requirements from the public and the media in this new age of commercial sports". It was carried out by a team of eminent consultancy groups with expertise on an international scale under the overall direction of a steering group which included representatives of the GAA, FAI and IRFU.
I do not accept the Deputy's suggestion of commissioning an expert group from outside the jurisdiction to assess and report on the future need for sports stadia. I consider that the needs of sport in this country have been clearly identified. This Government, which has invested more in the development of sport at all levels than any previous Government and continues to do so, will proceed with the stadium and other facilities planned for Sports Campus Ireland at Abbotstown.
I thank the Minister for his detailed reply. Would he not agree that, despite what he said, there is Croke Park, an 80,000 seater stadium in Dublin with a £40 million overrun, Lansdowne Road and the Eircom park project, from which the Government is trying to buy the FAI off? The costs of these projects are running out of control. Fresh outside eyes without the baggage of sporting links here could look at what the country needs and how the taxpayers' money could best be spent in providing stadia.
That would add to the costs the Deputy is quite rightly trying to keep down. What is the point of adding another layer of bureaucracy by commissioning more outside consultants to inform us of what we already know from PricewaterhouseCoopers? The outlying parts of the project will soon begin, and many excellent people are interested in tendering for these. Only when documents of tender are received does one know how much a project will cost. We will know shortly if the professionally estimated cost of £350 million for Sports Campus Ireland is correct. There are six or seven companies, from all over the world, who are very interested in putting tender documents to us soon.
I find it difficult to follow the Minister's logic. He quoted extensively from a report which looked at 15 stadia built by city or state in the United States. The average over-run in the cost of stadia was 73.4%. Building inflation is between 20% and 30%, so it is ludicrous that the Minister sticks with the figure of £280 million for the stadium, a year after it was first announced. It does not stand up to economic scrutiny.
Not once has Deputy O'Shea mentioned that the figure of £230 million includes a built-in contingency plan of £50 million. The contingency plan gives us £50 million to play with in the event of alterations being made to the stadium, for example, the addition of a roof.
An over-run of 70% will not be covered by £50 million.
We should wait until tenders for the project have come in, as only then will we have a realistic estimate of what the price will be. We should not waste time gathering more consultants' reports when the country needs this facility.
