Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am a little disappointed that the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is not present. I respect Ministers of State and do not generally have a problem with them, but there is not even a Minister of State present from the specific Department, which is somewhat disappointing.

A number of weeks ago in Cork, over the course of a glorious sunny bank holiday weekend, there were three sold-out Ed Sheeran gigs. The effect on the city was tremendous. The place was vibrant and hopping and had a festival atmosphere. In the midst of it all, the people of Cork got a glimpse of what a world-class event centre, as envisioned and talked about for so long, could deliver for the city and county. They got to see what it could do for local businesses, night life and so on in the city centre. The concerts went off without a hitch and the extraordinary potential and good that could come to the city from an events centre could be clearly seen. Unfortunately, when the conversation turns to having an events centre in Cork, many people roll their eyes. There is a sense of whether we will ever see one and whether it will happen, as opposed to when it will happen. That is because we have had false dawn after false dawn, delay after delay and missed deadline after missed deadline. BAM won a competition in late 2017 for €20 million in State funding from national and local government for an events centre. At the time it was estimated that the project would cost €50 million. The cost has since soared to €75 million to €80 million.

We heard that work was due to start in the summer of 2015, late 2015, after Easter 2016, late 2016 and so on. In February 2016 the Taoiseach turned the sod in the teeth of a general election. That is now almost universally accepted as being a complete stunt and nothing more. It is two years and four months since the sod was turned and as of now nothing, not even a brick, has been laid for the events centre. No planning has been finalised and there is no final design. A total of €633,000 has been spent without a brick having been laid.

The head of BAM, Mr. Theo Cullinane, accepts that will be tight and has even indicated that his company is willing to step aside for another contractor, notwithstanding the fact that it is fully committed to the contract. As such, the date on which this episode became a high farce was a long time ago. The Tánaiste was on local radio yesterday to inform us that the Government is fully committed and the project will be delivered. That has been the tune, I am sorry to say, for quite some time. Everyone hopes it will be delivered, but progress has been exceptionally slow.

I recognise that some of the responsibility for this project lies with other parties, including Cork City Council and BAM, but the application for additional funding of €10 million is with national Government. Processing that application is one of the key steps to moving forward. It appears, however, that the application process is tortuously slow. The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Josepha Madigan, informed me in January that, on 27 September 2017, Cork City Council made an application to her Department for a further grant to assist with the development of the project. She said the Department was assessing the application but that there were complex legal issues of state aid and matched funding to be considered. She said the Department was engaging with the local authority on those issues. The application for additional funding is itself dragging on. It has been with the Government for nine months. We were told three months ago that the issues had been resolved in principle, but we have no white smoke or certainty as to when we will get the grant.

My questions to the Minister of State are simple. Where is the Government decision on additional funding, when will it be made and when will final agreement on the additional funding be arrived at?

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