Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for being here this morning and wish Mr. Conlon every success in his role. I want to focus on one element of the work in the ten minutes I have, namely, the proposed development of the National Children's Science Centre. What Mr. Conlon has presented to us is a debacle. If this goes ahead, it will dwarf bike sheds and security huts in terms of the commitment the taxpayer will make to developing the National Children's Science Centre as currently proposed and constituted.

The original idea and concept behind all of this is quite simple. The OPW owed a site near Heuston Station, which would be sold to a developer. As part of the sale, the developer would agree to develop, at no charge to the State, the National Children's Science Centre in that location. From a public transport point of view, that would be a very positive development. That agreement was entered into during the height of the Celtic tiger.

Post the crash, I am mystified as are many others as to why that arrangement still somehow seems to garner some degree of respect and has obliged the OPW, in essence, to continue on the road to expending a very significant amount of money on a National Children's Science Centre. Why does Mr. Conlon believe that the original contract is still valid if the entire basis on which it is based no longer stands? Has the OPW done a cost-benefit analysis on the project and if so, what is the current cost it is attributing to its investment - the State's investment - in the National Children's Science Centre at the location currently proposed, which is adjacent to the National Concert Hall?