Vol. 548 No. 2
387 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the State's liability to the various consortia that were selected to bid for the Campus and Stadium Ireland project in the event of the abandonment or the scaling back of the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4836/02]
On 20 November 2000, Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Limited, the company established to oversee the development of Stadium and Sports Campus Ireland, advertised a tender competition for the stadium and other sporting facilities, in the form of a design, build, finance, operate and maintain process. Following receipt of preliminary expressions of interest, a selected number of companies were invited by CSID to participate in the outline bid stage of the competition. The bid documentation for this stage of the competition which closed on 21 June 2001, provides for the awarding authority to amend the bidding process by notice in writing to bidders.
The same bid documentation specifies that only bidders selected to proceed to the next detailed negotiation stage will have their reasonable third party costs met by the awarding authority and such costs will have to be agreed between the parties in advance of the negotiations moving to this stage of the process. However, a decision to move to this stage is subject to considerations now under way of the implications of the recommendations and options of the recently published High-Point Rendel Report.
The Deputy should be aware that the Government has clearly stated that it remains convinced that a stadium project at Abbotstown is both desirable and feasible and that the Abbotstown Campus can and will be developed into a vital infrastructural asset for the achievement of national aims in the field of sports, recreation and related tourism.
