Ms Rosemary Keogh:

Nobody has contradicted it. We stand over the statements we have made on the LEADER funding and the assertion made to Senator Hopkins in respect of the HSE offering the IWA €400,000 at one stage. It did not make such an offer and that is all I can tell the committee in that regard.

On the assurances needed, the IWA is not the body to give those assurances. We can tell the committee about our interactions but that is all we can do. We cannot speak for any other organisation and it for other organisations to speak for themselves. As I stated in my opening statement, everybody is sad about the decision. Nobody wanted it to come to this. Cuisle has been part of the fabric of the IWA for 22 years and the Senator was involved in establishing it in the 1990s. It has been a difficult time for our board members. I remind the committee that a number of our board members regularly holiday at Cuisle and were among the people who made the decision. It has not been an easy decision for anybody to make.

The Senator talked about Cuisle being a safe place. I hope we have demonstrated during the meeting that, unfortunately, Cuisle will no longer be a safe place in respect of the structure of the building and related issues. I reiterate that even if the funding was to become available, €1.15 million is not the solution to the problem. The figure is €1.15 million based on our current estimates, which are now one year old. We would also need assurances that if the sum is larger, asbestos is uncovered, there are issues with the water treatment works or whatever else there might be, there will have to be enforceable commitments that the funding will also be available into the future. Otherwise, in a year's time, having drawn down the €1.15 million, we could rip the building asunder and discover we will need another €1 million.