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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 26 Mar 2002

Vol. 551 No. 2

Written Answers. - Digital Hub.

Gay Mitchell

Ceist:

155 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she will make a statement on the progress in the creation of a Digital Media District in the Liberties-Coombe area of Dublin; the amount of expenditure by her Department and other Departments on the project to date; the number of staff seconded from the Civil Service to this project; and the details of payments to the commercial companies involved in this project to date. [9709/02]

The Digital Hub is a development project to cluster Irish and international new media companies, research and development and educational initiatives in the Liberties-Coombe area of Dublin. It is part of the drive to make Ireland an international centre for high-tech research and cutting edge digital industry.

Responsibility for the Digital Hub project transferred from the Department of the Taoiseach to my Department on 22 May 2001. This included responsibility for MediaLabEurope, the flagship project of the Digital Hub. Since that time the following progress has been made: the development plan for the project was launched in December of last year following extensive consultation with community interests in the area; purchase of property for the hub has now been completed and Digital Media Development Limited, the body established to oversee the development of the hub, will be embarking on a PPP process for its refurbishment shortly; work is under way on the installation of broadband infrastructure in the area; agreements are being finalised for an incubator centre in partnership between DMDL, Enterprise Ireland and Dublin City Council; and a number of ICT educational initiatives aimed at the local community are about to get under way.

Expenditure to date is as follows: Department of the Taoiseach –€17.78 million funding for MLE; and €232.36k for operating expenses for DMDL. Department of Public Enterprise €73.64 million on property purchase; €2.54 million on operating expenses for DMDL; €11.43 million in Government funding for MLE; and €2.54 million on funding for collaborative research between MLE and Irish universities.

One civil servant has been seconded from the Department of the Taoiseach to MLE to act as chief operating officer. Day to day operations on the Digital Hub project are undertaken by an executive services team appointed by the board of DMDL and headed by Magahy & Co. The team receives a fixed fee per month of €139,670 per month to end December 2003.

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