Vol. 573 No. 1
213 Mr. O'Connor asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if contacts have taken place between his Department and the South Dublin County Council in respect of the development of a new arts centre at civic headquarters in Tallaght; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24397/03]
The Civic Theatre in Tallaght received grant aid of €1.4 million from the then Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands under the cultural development incentive scheme, CDIS, operated under the Tourism Operational Programme 1994-1999. South Dublin County Council was the promoter for this project which involved the construction of an auditorium for theatre, exhibition space, film and music, restaurant and retail outlets. The theatre is in operation since May 1999.
My Department's arts and culture capital enhancement support scheme, ACCESS 2001-04, succeeded the CDIS scheme and is the main mechanism through which my Department grant-aids the capital development of arts and culture infrastructure projects throughout the country. Under ACCESS, 44 projects were selected from 180 applications for funding amounting to €45.71 million. All the funding under the ACCESS scheme has been fully allocated. No application was made for ACCESS funding from the South Dublin County Council in respect of a new arts centre at civic headquarters in Tallaght.
