Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 June 2004
33 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Finance the basis on which he agreed to sanction a payment of €1.5 million in public funds for the restoration of College Chapel, Maynooth University; if a formal application for a grant was received; the scrutiny or assessment it was subjected to; and whether the payment was agreed at a meeting between himself and the university’s president without civil servants being present. [18586/04]
View answer68 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Finance the circumstances in which he made €1.5 million available to the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. [18712/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 33 and 68 together.
Over the past two years a total of €1.5 million was made available to college for the purpose of renovating its college chapel.
The president of the college made a detailed presentation on the merits of the project during a discussion with me. My decision to recommend to the Dáil in the Estimates that funding should be made available arose from that encounter. There were no civil servants present during the discussion.
Budget Statements by Ministers for Finance have regularly included announcements of relatively small additions to expenditure to support particular groups or projects. They are usually of a once-off or time-limited nature. The funds for the college's project were not provided in the budget but in the Revised Estimates Volumes for 2003 and 2004.
There are a number of recent precedents for payments of this type. For example, the Christchurch Cathedral in Waterford, St. Isidore's College in Rome and the Irish College in Paris.
The work on the chapel involved the renewal and repair of elements of the external roof fabric, stone parapets, rainwater goods and pointing of external stonework plus an additional rainwater drainage run for the south side cloister roof. The Office of Public Works examined the schedule of works and found it satisfactory. It confirmed that the price was competitive and that it represented value for money. It also confirmed that the firm that successfully tendered to carry out the work had a current C2 certificate and all of the necessary insurance.
