Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 April 2004
150 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the position with regard to the provision of a national conference centre; when, in the autumn, he expects the Government to be in a position to secure a final decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10637/04]
View answerThe Office of Public Works received four submissions for the provision of a national conference centre following its advertisement for expressions of interest on 11 November 2003.
Those submissions are currently undergoing detailed evaluation by an assessment panel representative of my Department, the Office of Public Works and its advisers, the Department of Finance, Fáilte Ireland and the National Development Finance Agency. A separate panel will subsequently evaluate the site proposals that candidates were also asked to put forward, following which the next stage of the process will be initiated. While it is anticipated that a final decision from Government will be secured in the autumn, I cannot at this stage be any more precise as to the expected timeframe.
Subject to the acceptability of proposals, the national conference centre could, as envisaged in the expressions of interest Notice, be constructed before the end of 2007.
151 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, further to Question No. 112 of 25 February 2004, the evidence which exists to show that the scale of investment in a swimming pool project is not sufficiently large to support a formal public private partnership; and the other options available to local authorities wishing to develop swimming pool projects, partially funded from the local authority swimming pool programme. [10602/04]
View answerAs I indicated in my response of 25 February 2004, reference 6106/04, an expenditure review of the local authority swimming pool programme, LASPP, is currently under way and is due to be completed by the middle of this year. The position in regard to private sector involvement in the programme is being considered in the context of that review. As part of the review process, the work of the interdepartmental working group, which was set up in 1999 to advise on the key issues in regard to the operation of a public private partnership, PPP, approach in regard to swimming pools, will be taken into account. The experience of local authorities, national legislative and policy developments in the area of PPPs will also be pertinent.
At the moment, the various arrangements and accompanying guidelines in place for PPPs are geared towards major and complex capital projects with significant ongoing maintenance requirements, that is, projects having a capital cost of €20 million or more and the advice is that the PPP model should only be used where it is appropriate and where it can deliver value for money. Conversely, it would not be appropriate where the transaction costs of pursuing a PPP are disproportionate to the value of the project. The policy framework for PPPs in the local government sector issued by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in November last and implementing guidelines from the Department of Finance are detailed and complex in implementation terms. The scale of project costs in the LASPP are in the region of €8 million and would not be seen, therefore, as being of sufficiently high cost to justify the extra resources involved in pursuing a formal PPP approach. The Department of Finance confirmed some time ago that there were several considerations which would militate against a PPP approach in this programme and that pool projects do not strictly comply with the definition of a viable PPP in terms of scale and optimal transfer of risk to the private sector.
It is important to bear in mind that the LASPP is merely a grant scheme and it is a matter for local authorities to devise funding and operational arrangements as they see fit to complement the grant element. Experience shows that there is potential for private sector involvement in the provision and operation of local authority swimming pool facilities and many local authorities are exploring various ways of involving the private sector in their projects. From my Department's perspective, there is no objection to the involvement of the private sector provided the generally accepted operational considerations of a public pool form part of the project. These considerations would involve, for example, non-membership "pay per swim" access, concessionary rates as part of social inclusion measures, etc.
Following the completion of the expenditure review to which I referred, the possibility of a stronger private sector involvement in the provision and operation of swimming pools will become clearer.
