Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta as ucht an ábhar tábhachtach seo a ardú sa Teach agus guím gach rath ar a thriúir iníon atá ag déanamh ceoil ins an choláiste. This is an important issue. As Deputy Allen is aware, the Government decided last July that the Department of Education and Science should finalise contractual negotiations with Jarvis Projects Limited with a view to commencing construction of the new Cork School of Music public private partnership project. Around the time of the decision, it became apparent that there was some uncertainty about the company's financial position and the Government stipulated that before the contact could be signed, the Department must first be completely satisfied of Jarvis's legal and financial viability in being able to undertake and complete the contract. The Government required two specific measures to be undertaken by my Department before the contract could be entered into with Jarvis. The first measure is in regard to obtaining legal and financial advice on the viability of Jarvis and the second issue was to refer the draft contract terms in regard to debt repayment in the proposed contract to the National Development Finance Agency for consideration.

The first issue is being examined by my Department's specialist advisers to the project. In addition, the Department's officials and its advisers are in regular contact with Jarvis and are monitoring closely the present financial issues surrounding the company. In regard to the debt repayment terms, my Department supplied all the relevant information available to date to the National Development Finance Agency and has been in close contact with the senior staff of the agency regarding the matter. Late last week the agency gave its initial advice and that is now being examined in the Department.

Clearly, my Department cannot proceed to financial close unless there is a clear indication from Jarvis Projects that it has the necessary financial backing from its funders and that it is in a position to sign the contract. In this regard, I understand that the issues and discussions between Jarvis and its bank surrounding funding of the project are almost complete and that a decision is imminent. All indications are that the decision is likely to be positive.

As Deputy Allen has suggested, I make it absolutely clear that the Government is committed to the Cork School of Music project. Once the appropriate financial backing for the project is secured by Jarvis and approved by my Department, our advisers will be instructed to expedite completion of the documents in conjunction with the National Development Finance Agency to allow the contract to be signed as soon as possible. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and I look forward to opening the new building.

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