Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 30 Oct 1991

Vol. 411 No. 7

Written Answers. - National Indoor Stadium.

Jimmy Deenihan

Ceist:

226 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Education if she will confirm a definite date for the commencement of work on the national indoor stadium; whether a contractor has been appointed to carry out the work; and the amount of money that the Government have available for the project.

Jimmy Deenihan

Ceist:

228 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Education if she will confirm that the building of a national indoor stadium is still Government policy; and if she would reject recent reports in the national media that the Government abandoned plans for the stadium.

Jimmy Deenihan

Ceist:

229 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Education whether all the land has been acquired for the national indoor stadium at this stage; and the total cost of the land acquired to date.

Minister for Education (Mrs. O'Rourke)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 226, 228 and 229 together.

In accordance with a programme approved by Government for the provision of major sports facilities at national, regional and local level, the Custom House Docks Development Authority, as my Department's development agent for the project, have either acquired or agreed terms for approximately 90 per cent of the 12 acre site in the Custom House Docks area for the national sports centre and negotiations are ongoing for the acquisition of the remainder of the site. The proposal envisaged procurement under a design, construct, part-finance and manage package with the State providing a payment of £3 million per annum from the national lottery over an agreed leasing period. The detailed brief to enable proposals to be invited from the four short listed consortia has been virtually completed by the Custom House Docks Development Authority in consultation with my Department. Detailed proposals could not be invited, however, or a definitive starting date confirmed, until the acquisition of the site had been completed.

In accordance with normal practice, the project is being kept under review in the light of developing circumstances.

As the acquisition of the site has not yet been completed, it would not be appropriate at this stage to indicate the amount of money spent to date on land acquisition.