Seán Barrett
Question:261 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands her views on the application from the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin 2, for a £3 million grant towards the cost of redeveloping the theatre. [8750/01]
Written Answers. - Arts Funding.
The Deputy will be aware that I have secured a total of £36 million of Exchequer funding for the ACCESS programme for the period 2001-04. An initial assessment of all applications received under this scheme has been completed by independent consultants and it has been determined that the Gaiety Theatre application has met the broad criteria for eligibility.
This and all other eligible applications are currently undergoing a comprehensive evaluation by an assessment committee and on the basis of this, recommendations on the projects to be supported will be submitted to me for decision. It is envisaged that the committee will have completed its task shortly and that I will soon thereafter be in a position to announce which projects are to be chosen for funding.