John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

When I stated that we hoped to identify and announce a site in the centenary year, I was confident that the Parnell Square site would be acquired in its entirety by the Office of Public Works. The OPW was also confident in this regard. However, as the Deputy is aware, the OPW was unable to acquire the site at what it regarded as a fair price. The owners of a portion of the site, 1 Granby Row, which we failed to acquire, indicated to the Office of Public Works that they required substantially more in the way of money. The OPW was satisfied that the amount being sought was considerably more than the market value and entirely unreasonable. In those circumstances, we withdrew from the negotiations.

Nobody should be under the illusion that it is possible, just because the State is involved in a bidding process, to extract more than a property is worth. We are obliged to safeguard taxpayers' money and that is precisely what we did in this instance. That does not mean that we will not be in a position to site the Abbey Theatre elsewhere. However, I will not waste taxpayers' money.

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