Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)

I thank the Minister of State very much. I am concerned at the response because what we see is a passing of the buck. It goes from the Government to the council. The council says it does not have enough money to complete the project, so it goes back to the Government. We never get a full answer about when the library is going to be built. Is it going to be a new-build library? Are we going to get the construction of a new building and not have this shoved into an existing building that does not meet the needs of a library and is not the promised new-build library? This is what people in Cork want to know. Will we get the library that has been promised, the new-build library, and not this project shoved into an existing building on a nearby street? It should stay on the Grand Parade, at the heart of our city. It should be a library that is fit for purpose.

The Minister of State mentioned the other elements of the redevelopment of the Grand Parade and they are very welcome. The upgrade of Bishop Lucey Park is very welcome, but this is a smaller element of this project. It accounts for about €7 million of the overall funding. The Taoiseach announced funding of €50 million in Cork. It is not referenced here. I think it is €46 million. When the Taoiseach came to Cork, though, he announced funding of €50 million. What is interesting is that when the press releases go out, they often have the names of the Taoiseach and the Minister on them. When it comes to responsibility, however, it is a case of it not being them but Cork City Council that is responsible. I would like the Taoiseach and the Minister to take responsibility for the delivery of the projects they announce.

It happens time and again in my city, where they come and announce projects, turn the sod on them and then they do not get delivered. I mentioned that we had it with the events centre. In 2016, just in advance of the general election, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste of the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government at the time came to Cork, turned the sod on that project on a nearby street, and it is still a vacant, empty site. There is a new bridge there too, but it is a bridge to nowhere. People in Cork are absolutely sick of this. They want to see the delivery of the projects. In his reply, I want the Minister of State to tell me if a new library will be built on Grand Parade as promised by my constituency colleague and Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin.

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