Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I acknowledge Deputy Burton's interest in this subject. She and I have raised this matter a number of times but our pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears. On New Year's Day, storm force winds ripped a 25 metre section of the roof from the competition pool of the National Aquatic Centre. The metal roofing was blown across the complex, causing extensive damage inside and outside the building. Management at the centre expected that repairs would be carried out immediately to facilitate its 7,000 or more members and to retain the services of its 60 staff. However, as it became apparent that no builder was being appointed to carry out the work, management had to make 50 of its 60 staff at that time temporarily redundant. I understand from Deputy Burton that the other ten members of staff have also been made temporarily redundant.

Despite a commitment given on a "Morning Ireland" programme by a representative of Campus Stadium Ireland Development Limited on 15 February that the centre or part of it would be reopened in two weeks' time, no work has yet been carried out. More than two weeks ago at the Committee of Public Accounts, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism reported that leisure facilities at the National Aquatic Centre would be available in two weeks' time and estimated that it would take three months to repair the more extensive damage to the swimming pool. Those two weeks have passed and no work has begun at the centre. Although it is more than ten weeks since the storm damage occurred, to date, no contractor has been assigned. It appears highly unlikely that the estimated three-month timeframe for repairs is anything other than extremely optimistic and that the work will not be delivered on in that timeframe.

Apart from the unavailability of the facility to its 7,000 members, in the meantime events such as the Irish Water Polo Association national league have had to be suspended. The International Celtic Masters swim meet due to the held at the centre at the end of May will also have to be cancelled as well as number of other events that appear on the centre's website. Even if the pool could be ready in three months' time, it would not be ready in time for a large number of these events.

As I suspected, the management has lost key personnel who could not be expected to wait this long for the centre to reopen. I understand they have got jobs elsewhere. Dublin Waterworld is losing €500,000 or more a month while the centre remains closed. The closure of the centre is not its fault and it cannot be the target of the blame. The Minister's silence in this regard is unacceptable. We have no timeframe for the carrying out of the repairs, no estimate for the cost of doing so and no idea as to the outcome of consultations between the Office of Public Works and Campus Stadium Ireland Development Limited. These consultations were promised at an Oireachtas committee but we have had no indication of the outcome of the discussions that took place.

The taxpayers who paid for the construction of this centre and the many stakeholders in the facility deserve to know why it still lies idle with no sign of repairs beginning. The Minister should, as he has an obligation to do under the leasing arrangement entered into by the Government with Dublin Waterworld, intervene to ensure that a specific date for the commencement of repairs is identified without delay. If this is the experience in this instance, it brings into question the capacity of the Government to successfully develop large projects such as the National Aquatic Centre.

I wish to put the following questions, to some of which the Minster of State may not be able to reply. What are the health and safety issues in this instance? Why can the gym and leisure pool not be opened immediately, as was promised some weeks ago by representatives of CSID? Why were we told a month ago that the facility would be reopened in two weeks' time? Will the Minister of State indicate when the centre might be reopened? Who is liable for the damage caused? That is an important point. Will the Minister of State indicate when is it likely that a builder will be appointed?

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