Vol. 537 No. 4
149 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the expert group which has been involved to date regarding Stadium Campus Ireland; the sporting requirements which have been identified for current and future needs; the estimated costs of the proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15372/01]
The feasibility study, "A Stadium for the New Century", was commissioned from PricewaterhouseCoopers. A stadium steering committee was appointed to oversee the study. Both the study and details of the composition of the steering committee were placed in the Oireachtas Library in January 2000.
The Sports Campus Ireland project envisages the development at Abbotstown of a centre of excellence in sporting facilities for a wide range of sports men and women as well as a family destination in its own right, providing a major health and leisure amenity for the local community as well as the general public. Campus and Stadium Ireland Development, CSID, the company established last year to oversee the planning and development of the project, has initiated a tender competition which is seeking bids for the designing, building, financing, operating and maintaining of sports facilities including an 80,000 seat state of the art stadium, aquatic and leisure centre, 15,000-20,000 seat multi-purpose indoor arena, indoor/outdoor training facilities for all sports, tennis centre, golf academy and velodrome.
As I have indicated previously, the cost of the Sports Campus Ireland project is estimated by CSID at £550 million. This includes the cost of the 80,000 seat stadium as estimated in the PricewaterhouseCoopers feasibility study, "A Stadium for the New Century", namely, £230 million. CSID estimate that the private sector will contribute £150 million to the cost of the commercial aspects of the project and a further £50 million has been offered as a private donation. This would leave an exchequer requirement of £350 million.
These figures are best estimates and it is in order to have the best information possible on the likely cost of the project that the Government has decided to have an independent overview, which is currently being commissioned by my Department. This will be managed by a steering group comprised of the Secretaries General of my own Department, the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Second Secretary of the Department of Finance.
Question No. 150 answered with Question No. 15.
