Vol. 565 No. 4
8 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he has had any recent discussions with the IRFU and the FAI regarding the upgrading and redevelopment of Lansdowne Road with a view to locating the national stadium there; the nature of discussions concerning the financing of such a development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11027/03]
18 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism when a decision will be made on the location of a national stadium. [11122/03]
23 Mr. Ryan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if the Government still feels that Abbotstown is a contender location for the proposed national stadium; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11025/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 18 and 23 together.
I refer the Deputies to my earlier response to the priority questions on this issue in deference to what you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, said about brevity.
The Minister did not clearly outline the criteria. Can we have the criteria in five-point form which we can show to the person on the street and say this is how the Minister will make his decision when he is picking the location and that it will be based on cost, traffic and so on? We do not want this veil of secrecy. Some day we will wake up and the Minister will have picked a location. Can we have the reasons a particular location will be picked? At the moment people are saying it will be an under the table decision.
There are numerous factors that are brought into play in determining which location is best and what type of stadium should be constructed. It would be impossible for me to be exhaustive in regard to that this afternoon other than to say that in the provisional report which I received from the FAI and the IRFU, the lozenge-type table or graph presented in respect of each location was scored regarding given criteria. For example, the question of and the distance from park and ride facilities is one of the factors which will be taken into account. There were several others as well. There were other criteria which were not taken into account and which one might regard as relevant.
Can we get a copy of the criteria?
The document belongs to the IRFU and the FAI.
