John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

Legal proceedings have been taken by Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Limited in the commercial court against Dublin Waterworld for breaches of the lease on the National Aquatic Centre. As this issue relates to proceedings before the commercial court at present, it would be inappropriate for me to make any further comment or statement on these matters.

However, I take this opportunity to indicate my disappointment that Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Limited has been left with no option but to instigate these proceedings to ensure compliance with the obligations of the lease on the National Aquatic Centre. I had no part in the awarding of the contract for the operation of the National Aquatic Centre, the contract for which was placed prior to my appointment as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. The awarding authority was CSID and the contract was signed early in 2002. The award of the contract for the National Aquatic Centre was the subject of an investigation by the Attorney General in March 2002 and the report was discussed at meetings of the Committee of Public Accounts during that month. However, as soon as it was brought to my attention that the lease obligations were not being fulfilled, I decided that legal proceedings should be initiated and fully support the course of action taken by CSID in my role as shareholder of the company.

In developing the National Aquatic Centre at Abbotstown, the State undertook a very worthwhile and necessary investment. The capital expenditure of €62 million excluding VAT on the provision of the facility represents money very well spent. In addition, €3 million was spent on the original sports campus project on site preparation and surveys of the land at Abbotstown. This work has already proved very useful in the preparation of a development control plan for the site and will be further drawn upon when work on the wider campus concept begins. This is the total capital sum spent in connection with the development of the sporting facilities at Abbotstown. The notion that €200 million was wasted is simply nonsense. The National Aquatic Centre has been fully operational since 20 May when extensive repair work to the roof was completed, following the storm damage that occurred on 1 January 2005.

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