Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Tosnóimid arís i seisiún poiblí. Before we were interrupted, I was trying to get answers from the Minister to a number of questions. It is important not to conflate these problems with the value of the archive and the location to which it is going. There is nobody on the island who has any difficulty with its value or location. The questions relate purely to the due diligence the Department had in respect of the entire project. As the Minister knows, the Galway arthouse cinema is a major difficulty and, I am sure, a thorn in the side of the Department. It is standing there unused after millions of euro were poured into it and after the Department had to pour in more than what was initially estimated.

I am amazed that the Department would allocate €2 million to a project and not carry out due diligence. I understand that the Minister says that there was an assessment done. Would it be possible, in the spirit of new politics, that the assessment might be made visible to members of this committee?

The Department gave permission for the €2 million to be drawn down. At the same time, one of the key elements of the project was Ms Mary Robinson's application for tax relief on her archive. That application did not fit the criteria under the law. I understand from communications back and forth between the Minister's Department and the Department of Finance and reported on "Prime Time" that this particular archive was outside the strict criteria laid down under legislation because it contained more than documentation. In other words, it contained other elements as well. Other issues arose. There was a controversy over the value of the building in that there were alternatives in Ballina that were far cheaper. There were controversies regarding the disrepair of the building and it was going to need hundreds of thousands of euro more to actually make it fully stable and utilisable. A State organisation, namely, the county council, was entering into a blank-cheque situation whereby unforeseen costs would be loaded on the shoulders of the people of Mayo in the future. Was it not necessary for the State to have confidences regarding these issues before it gave the go-ahead for the drawdown of the €2 million?