Chairman:

The Government has promised €5.1 million in State funds for the Mary Robinson library project in Ballina. A chunk of that could come from the local authority. There is a concern about the tax break which will be achieved with regard to the donation of the archive. There are several other issues but I am concerned that this project will end up like the Galway art house project. The feasibility study carried out by the chief executive officer of Mayo County Council indicated there would be a €10 charge per person to enter this new building. It is felt that this is quite high a charge and would limit the number of people who would visit it. This would then prevent the sustainable running of the project through local revenue generation and a further subvention from the State would be required.

There will also be four separate cultural locations in Ballina with four separate front-of-house staff, four cafes, etc. There is also an issue that the building costs could run into further moneys. Is the Minister confident this is the most efficient use of money to bring about the same benefits to Ballina, given that the main archive will be based in Galway and we do not know what level of archives will be in Ballina?