Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

Everyone would agree there is a critical decision to be made in this regard. A considerable degree of pressure has been taken off the Abbey Theatre following its recent refurbishment on the existing site. I understand the board is satisfied that the theatre will be able to continue for the next five or six years until a new site is developed, hopefully in time for the centenary of the Rising in 2016. As I said in my reply, the vast majority of spending associated with this project to date - I mentioned a figure of some €219,000 - is project specific as opposed to site specific. In other words, the vast majority of it could be transferred into the GPO if that is the decision. It is important to note that while the programme for Government declares an interest in going down that road, all the complexities of the proposal will have to be fully explored and identified in order to ascertain whether it is feasible.

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