Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I am disappointed that the centre requires a subsidy. I am strongly of the view that it should reach break even at the very least and that the taxpayer should not be required to provide ongoing current subsidies to it. It is one thing to invest the capital, but it is another thing for the taxpayer to be drawn into day-to-day subsidies, which unfortunately we have been to the tune of €1.8 million, which represents the loss in running the centre in 2007. On the other hand in the calendar year there were 532,000 visits, which is a very high base on which to build. As I said in my reply it played a central role in the Special Olympics World Games and other events. There is much on which to build for the future. I do not want to tolerate an ongoing annual subsidy. I want to get to the situation where at the very least it breaks even and preferably is profitable. If we work on these numbers and keep the management pressure up, we can turn it around.

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