Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

The Grangegorman Development Agency has the important remit of constructing a new campus for the Dublin Institute of Technology, in advance of the relocation of the institute's seven faculties, which are currently distributed throughout Dublin, to the Grangegorman site. Given that many of the buildings on the 70-acre Grangegorman site are quite old and were not built for these purposes, the agency will have the difficult task of pulling everything together so the institute will operate effectively. This new initiative has a statutory basis, in the form of an Act that was passed by the Oireachtas some years ago. The Minister is statutorily required to appoint a new board of the agency, as the term of office of the previous board expired in the middle of last month, but he has not done so. Not only is he is awaiting nominations from the Department of Health and Children and Dublin City Council, but he is also consulting himself by looking into his own heart.

The Minister has said that when he receives the nominations, he will present a draft memo to the Cabinet. He will have to prepare such a memo, a strategic plan and a budget. All of this is taking place in limbo, in the absence of a board. The Minister has an obligation to appoint a board because in the absence of a board, the agency cannot continue its business. As it has neither a chief executive officer nor a fully fledged board, it is pretty much stalled and stagnant. It does not know where it is going. It is rudderless and directionless as it waits for the Minister to make up his mind about what he intends to do. One cannot develop a major project in such circumstances.

Those who have been planning this project for years need to know where they are going. It might take them much longer to get this project off the ground, now that everything has suddenly ground to a halt as a consequence of the Minister's failure to get his act together. This is an important aspect of this important plan. Action is also required in the interests of other developments, such as the extension of the Luas network through Broadstone and Liffey Valley, where it will connect with the Maynooth line. One of the reasons the Luas extension was sanctioned was to allow Dublin Institute of Technology's 20,000 students to use public transport to travel to Grangegorman. If the Minister does not get his act together in time, two projects might well be stalled.

Perhaps the Minister will give us details of the strategic plan that has been mentioned, as I have no idea what it is. Such a plan should have been prepared well in advance of the date of expiry, so that the entire new board could be appointed and could get on with the job. I have been appointed to the consultative committee, which has no remit in the absence of the appointment of a board. Everybody is floundering because we cannot make progress with this important project. It is time we got clarity, direction and a decision.

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