Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 18 Nov 2003

Vol. 574 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. EU Presidency. - Departmental Expenditure.

Ms Burton

The purpose of this debate is to invite the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, to explain to taxpayers the circumstances in which he approved allocations of State funds to Punchestown Agricultural and Equestrian Event Centre. He should explain what financial and management controls were utilised by him to evaluate the project and indicate whether the €17 million of State funding spent on this project is recoverable or secured by a security on the centre or on the lands and assets of Punchestown Racecourse.

The primary responsibility of a Minister for Finance in hard times – this Minister is particularly fond of lecturing us about this – is to make hard decisions on spending priorities. If the Minister of the day is seen to take a soft option in the interests of local pet projects or personal cronies while vital areas of public capital expenditure, such as health and education, are postponed or cut back, this brings the profession of politics into disrepute. The Comptroller and Auditor General's report and the Committee of Public Accounts hearings have disclosed that this project received 100% funding in several tranches and seems to have been fast-tracked by means of private agreements reached directly between the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Agriculture and Food.

Anyone who has sought money for a new school, a falling down school, a hospital ward to be opened or an extension to a community hall must wonder how the "tally-ho brigade" in Kildare were able to winkle such enormous amounts of money out of the Minister almost like magic. My first question is was the project agreed by the Minister and the Minister for Agriculture and Food at the races, because there is a letter on record indicating to the Minister for Agriculture and Food that he was grateful for the interest and commendation already shown to the project? The project was approved and on two occasions funding was increased from the original €6.9 million to €14.8 million, even though under an agreement of 9 August 2000, the second tranche of money was to be the last.

In October 2001, Punchestown sought a further €1.5 million, mainly for works to satisfy the planning requirements of Kildare County Council. This was sanctioned in record time by the Minister for Finance four months later on 31 January, bringing total State funding for the project to €14.8 million. We do not want too much guff from the Minister about how this is a wonderful project, the like of which has never been seen throughout Europe. While we wish the project much success, and we wish horse-racing in Ireland and the Minister's enjoyment of the races equal success, that is not the point. The "horsey set" are very well off and very few projects get 100% funding. Therefore, why were the terms of the 9 August agreement breached by the Minister in October 2001 and at the end of January 2002? Why did the Department of Finance not act to require a proper analysis of the proposal submitted by the Department of Agriculture and Food? What is the current status of the guidelines issued by the Department of Finance for the evaluation of major capital projects? The Minister should not tell us the Department of Finance is now taking a hands-off approach to evaluating projects because he told us recently that he is tightening the screw on evaluations. What is the status of the Government's financial control procedures and the requirement on Departments to obtain the approval of the Department of Finance for the funding of projects? What does the phenomenal speed with which the project was approved represent? It has the appearance of two Ministers personally approving a proposal and pushing it through without any proper scrutiny – something for their friends, and nothing less.

Areas throughout the country have been left short of €1 million, €2 million or €5 million for primary schools. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform cut funding this year for the probation and welfare service. Yet the Minister's friends in the "tally-ho brigade" received €17 million while scarcely submitting more than an invitation to lunch at the racecourse or visiting the Minister in his clinic, a very important way to get either tax breaks or to get the Minister to give other schemes the go ahead. We need an explanation because people throughout the country are hurting from the kind of cutbacks the Minister has deemed appropriate to impose. There will be a huge increase in the numbers of homeless because of what the Minister has done in regard to rent allowances, yet he could find €17 million for his friends. This is 100% funding with almost no conditionality. We do not even know if the State holds some kind of security for these assets in the event of the whole project failing. All we know is that Santa's kingdom will base itself in the centre for the next few months. Not only was the Minister playing Santa Claus to the Kildare hunt, but he appears determined to keep on doing so.

Mr. McCreevy

I am particularly pleased at the opportunity offered by the Deputy to explain my involvement in the provision of funding for the Punchestown Event Centre and to reiterate my support for the project.

Punchestown has a long and rich history and is associated world-wide with national hunt racing and eventing. The new facilities provided at Punchestown over the past five years or so have made a major contribution to making Punchestown the attraction it is. I have long been a supporter of the various developments at Punchestown, both in terms of the racecourse facilities and the Agriculture Event and Exhibition Centre, which have transformed it into the world class facility it is today.

It is ironic that the Opposition have just now woken up to the issue of the funding of the event centre, given that its funding has been before Deputies for consideration on no less than eight separate occasions, between June 2000 and June 2003. No one can argue that the provision of funding for the centre was not open and transparent. I refer the Deputy to the Vote of the Department of Agriculture and Food for the years concerned where funding for the centre appeared in bold print in its own dedicated subhead.

It appears that the biggest problem some critics of the project have is not its existence but its location. The fact is that no other promoter made an approach to provide such a facility and, in the context of the scale of the facilities required, the large land bank available at Punchestown made that location particularly suitable. No doubt, however, there are those opposite who would have preferred if we located the centre in Mount Merrion. I might also add that the public funding of such centres is not unusual throughout Europe. At least the then Fine Gael spokesman on agriculture welcomed the location of the centre when, on 13 June 2001, he said "I am delighted to see that in subhead E5, funding is provided for the establishment of a new agriculture and eventing exhibition and international show and competition centre at Punchestown. I am not being parochial when I say that because as it happens, Punchestown is across the road from my constituency."

Perhaps it would assist the Deputy to understand the role of the Minister and the Department of Finance in regard to the allocation of public funds. Next year, for example, Departments and offices will spend more than €40 billion. As the Deputy knows, there are a range of Departments which deal with different areas of Government activity. Over the years these Departments have developed the expertise and experience needed to make decisions as to the merits of particular projects that come before them. Surely the Deputy is not suggesting that the Department of Finance should sit in its ivory tower and second-guess the activities and decisions of every other Department.

For too long, my Department has been criticised for imposing its dead hand on other Departments and preventing them from using their experience and judgment.

Ms Burton

I hope other Ministers are listening.

Mr. McCreevy

Thankfully, we are moving away from those days and I have yet to hear anyone suggesting a return to them.

This project and its funding were subject to careful appraisal within the Department of Agriculture and Food. I have full confidence in that Department in this regard. An application for my approval of funding came only after the Department had fully satisfied itself as to the merits of the project. I was aware of, and indeed shared, the view of the Department of Agriculture and Food of the need for a facility of international standard suitable for the holding of agricultural shows and exhibitions. I fully share that Department's view that the central and accessible location of Punchestown, the space available and its place as the centre of eventing and national hunt horseracing in Ireland for many years made it the ideal location for the centre.

The facts are that the Punchestown authorities wrote to the Department of Agriculture and Food in November 1999 with a proposal for an event and exhibition centre at an estimated cost of €7 million. The Minister for Agriculture and Food sought approval for the funding on 20 January 2000 and I conveyed sanction for the spending. In June 2002, the Minister for Agriculture and Food sought approval for additional funding of €6 million, which I approved the following month. Arising from planning conditions imposed by Kildare County Council, the Minister for Agriculture and Food sought sanction for a further €1.5 million, which I approved, subject to the money being found from within the resources of the Department of Agriculture and Food.

The event centre is now operational and has hosted a number of significant events, not least the highly prestigious European Eventing Championship and the Open Endurance Championships in September last. Its location, size and adaptability will ensure it continues to play host to a variety of events in the years to come and it will contribute significantly to the financial recovery of Punchestown. This centre is fundamentally a good thing and enjoys my full support. It is already proving its worth. I have no apologies to make about my involvement and I am certain the State's contribution has now resulted in a world class event centre in which we can all take pride.