Vol. 517 No. 6
330 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands if he has attached conditions to a grant to South Dublin, Fingal and Kildare County Councils for the development of Lucan Demesne, acquired by the previous Government; if so, the nature and reason for these conditions; if there is a timescale for the completion of the development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10493/00]
Significant expenditure is required to make Lucan Demesne fully accessible to the public and accordingly my Department sought and received approval from the Department of Finance for expenditure of £3.75 million on the development of the demesne over the next five years, commencing this year. This funding will be allocated to the three county councils involved, Kildare, Fingal and South Dublin on the basis of an agreed programme of works.
The sanction from the Department of Finance is subject to a maximum payment each year of £750,000 up to 2004 and the three local authorities involved formally acknowledging that these payments represent the maximum amounts to be made available through my Department for the development of Lucan Demesne. This funding is also conditional upon the agreement of the local authorities to open as much of the demesne as possible to the public as early as possible for obvious reasons. The three local authorities have given an absolute assurance that they would in future cover all maintenance and running costs of the proposed park from their own resources.
The Deputy will appreciate, therefore, that through the purchase of the demesne and the provision of development funding, my Department is providing very substantial assistance to the local authorities to ensure the establishment of a Liffey Valley Park to provide much needed amenity facilities both for local communities and the public at large. My particular concern is to ensure that the Lucan Demesne be made available to the public as soon as possible and I would urge the two local authorities who have yet to confirm their acceptance of the conditions attached to the grant of development funding to do so, in order to facilitate commencement of the development works without delay.
