Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 15 December 2022

Public Accounts Committee

2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin

9:30 am

Photo of Jennifer Carroll MacNeillJennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would be obliged if Mr. Buckley would.

The reason that this is so important is because when this was agreed initially there was no science museum in Ireland. There is an excellent science museum, which is not in my constituency. I have no connection to it. However, I have visited it, as have hundreds of thousands of other people. It received support all the way through Covid with the employment scheme and all of the different Covid schemes. Now there is a question about whether it reopens or not. I have no grá for any particular entity but I have a big difficulty with the State being obliged to build something that already exists. I do not understand the rationale for it. This is something that the Committee of Public Accounts, next year, they following year or the year after, will have to return to. This is something that the Comptroller and Auditor General will have to investigate thoroughly. I want it noted today that I do not understand how we can still be obliged to do something from 2007. I am glad to hear the OPW is approaching the matter with robustness. I was glad that it went through the two different arbitrations. I genuinely do not understand it. It will be a matter of note for the future, in particular, for the Comptroller and Auditor General.

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