John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Josepha Madigan, who is in the Seanad dealing with legislation. The project raised consists of the design, construction and operation of a new multifunctional event centre in Cork city with a capacity of approximately 6,000 persons. It is envisaged that the event centre will be capable of accommodating a wide range of events including concerts, festivals, family entertainments, arts, cultural, sports, exhibitions, conferences and trade shows. The project is led by Cork City Council with the development company BAM having been selected by the council as the preferred tenderer. BAM, in turn, has engaged international events company Live Nation as the preferred operator. The project is ultimately being developed and managed by Cork City Council. This means that Cork City Council is ultimately responsible for its delivery.

A service-level agreement has been signed between the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Cork City Council setting out the terms and conditions for the granting of €12 million. The Department has already paid €1 million to Cork City Council. In addition to the €12 million provided by the Exchequer, Cork City Council itself plans to contribute €8 million to the project. When the tender was awarded to BAM by Cork City Council in December 2014, the total projected cost of the Cork event centre was €50 million. The latest financial projections provided by Cork City Council to the Department indicate, however, that the cost has increased to a significant extent. Last autumn, Cork City Council wrote to the Department seeking additional funding of €10 million for the project from the Exchequer. This would bring the Exchequer contribution to €22 million and total public funding to €30 million.

The development of a major new event centre in Cork city centre is very exciting and very much in line with what the Government is seeking to achieve in the context of balanced regional development and sustainable urban development under Project 2040. In the context of the application for additional funding of €10 million, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht must, as the sanctioning authority, ensure the project is robust, complies with the public spending code and will deliver value for money for the Exchequer. Due to its size and cost, this project has significant procurement, state aid, legal and matched funding complexities. The important thing is to ensure that the project is delivered in accordance with relevant legal and value for money requirements. I understand the Department is in discussions with the relevant stakeholders, including Cork City Council and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with a view to progressing these considerations as a matter of urgency.

The Cork event centre is a Government commitment. It underlines the Government’s commitment to culture. The new centre will constitute a substantial addition to the cultural offering in Cork city and county when it is complete.

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