Bernard Allen
Ceist:39 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if he will make a statement on the development of the national conference centre. [19896/99]
Priority Questions. - National Conference Centre.
The Operational Programme for Tourism, 1994-99, includes provision for 33 million ecu – approximately £26 million – in European Regional Development Fund grant aid for the construction of a conference centre in Dublin capable of handling up to 2,000 delegates.
Following the failure of processes in 1995 and 1996 to secure an appropriate proposal, a new tender procedure, organised by Bord Fáilte, under the direction of the independent Management Board for Product Development, and conducted in accordance with EU Council Directive 93/37/EEC, was launched in September 1997. This process culminated in June 1998 in the selection of the proposal submitted by Spencer Dock International Convention Centre Ltd., to go forward for European Regional Development Fund grant aid to develop the conference centre at a site in Dublin's Docklands.
In September 1998, the Government agreed to making a submission to the European Commission recommending formal approval for a 33 million ecu European Regional Development Fund grant towards the cost of developing the project. The Commission's approval, in principle, for the grant was received in April 1999.
Since then, and following consultations between the developer and Bord Fáilte, I have been in correspondence with the Commission about how the construction schedule for the project can be accommodated within the various operational programme and CSF deadlines. Final contractual details from the developers are now urgently awaited by the Commission so that they can finalise their consideration of the case for extension of permissible time limits for grant drawdown.
Bord Fáilte is continuing negotiations with the developers with a view to finalising agreement on the necessary contracts by 15 October. With only a couple of months left to the end of the current CSF, including deadlines for commitments under the Operational Programme for Tourism, every effort is being made to have the required contractual details with the Commission for their consideration as soon as possible.
Is the Minister as confident now as he was six months ago that the national conference centre will go ahead? Is the proposal to build the centre dependent on other projects going ahead on the same site which are part of the appeal to An Bord Pleanála? When does the Minister expect to have a commencement and finalisation date for the project?
My commitment to this project remains as strong as ever. We are totally committed to the national conference centre going ahead. This project is now at a very delicate stage and it is a sensitive issue. We now have a date, 15 October, and contractual documents have to be signed by that date, depending on whether the developers want to go ahead and sign them. I have to admit, however, that this is a delicate situation. The developers say this project was always dependent on tax and other issues. They were always a matter for debate. A contract remains to be signed by Bord Fáilte and the developers. In addition, the Government and the European Union must agree because the Commission requires to at least have sight of a contract between them and the construction company that would be legally binding to allow us get the required extension for the drawdown of the EU funds, but this matter is at a delicate stage.
The Minister scrapped a stand alone project in Ballsbridge. He is now telling us that the proposal he accepted in 1998 was dependent on other events taking place, and the project may now fall or stand on these events. He tells us a contract may or may not be signed in two days. Surely the House is entitled to know the facts as the Minister currently sees them. Is he confident that a contract will be signed in two days' time or is this project now wholly dependent on other events happening and the outcome of a Bord Pleanála hearing? Is this whole issue now an awful mess?
What about the money?
These are priority questions.
This project was open to a tender process and it was decided independently. I did not make any decisions on the location of the national conference centre.
You are the Minister.
I brought it back on track and secured the £26 million grant.
It is not secured. It is on a wing and a prayer.
It was not up to me in the first instance to do that. We secured it with regard to our Department.
Subject to the EU.
It is not secured.
It was always a matter of it going out to tender and the tender process indicated that the Spencer Dock company should get the contract.