My Department allocated €12 million to Cork City Council towards the cost of the Cork Event Centre which is being developed and managed by Cork City Council.
As with all capital grants from my Department, the allocation is managed under a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the City Council. The SLA was signed in December 2015 when the estimated cost of the project was €50 million. Since then, the project cost has increased and while the full cost has not yet been agreed, it is likely to exceed of €70 million. Aligned with the increase in the project cost is a request from the City Council for additional Exchequer funding of €10m. This is being considered at present. Any revised funding agreement would require a revised SLA.
Under the existing SLA, my Department is to provide funding of €12 million to the project subject to the Council complying with the terms and conditions which include the registration of a charge on the facility, the production of documentary evidence that all funding is in place to bring the Event Centre into public use, tax clearance certification and the provision of information on the Centre for a period of ten years from the payment of the grant, as well as payment procedures. The SLA covered a period of four years.
