Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is well known that the city of culture ran into serious cash flow problems only weeks before it opened in January 2014. Internal documents from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, obtained by The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act 2014, disclosed that Limerick City of Culture had none of its €6 million State funding in place by the time of the official opening on 31 December. The records show the scale of Limerick City of Culture’s difficulties in drawing down funding and the uncertainty it caused for the project.

Why then did the Government plough ahead with such precarious plans? In this context, and given all that we know now about the cash flow problems in the lead-up to the launch of Limerick City of Culture last year, does the Minister find it acceptable that questions remain unanswered regarding the transferring of €150,000 to other projects as I have outlined? When will the review of Limerick City of Culture conclude and how will we be notified of its findings? Will the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht make up the €400,000 shortfall in payment?

See this speech in context