Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

The Abbey Theatre is a vital national cultural institution. Historically, it was a flagship of the cultural revival, which preceded independence. After independence, it was the first cultural institution to be in receipt of a State subsidy. It staged then and since Irish plays of world stature, other plays of great distinction and significance, as well as some classics of world theatre. It helped in the 20th century to create an outstanding literary reputation for Ireland that it did not previously have.

There is an important, if subtle, distinction between a national theatre and nationalist theatre. Synge and O'Casey wrote for a national, rather than a nationalist, theatre. The Abbey has been a place where many of the best dramatists, players and producers from every tradition and outlook have come together with pride in a common cause.

The difficulties of running a national theatre, then and now, in an Irish context are not to be underestimated. From time to time, they been aired in the press. A former Senator under the Free State, W.B. Yeats, expressed it in verse:

When we are high and airy hundreds say

That if we hold that flight they'll leave the place,

While those same hundreds mock another day

Because we have made our art of common things.

I welcome the interest shown in the future of the Abbey by many Senators, including Senators Coghlan and Norris. Senator Norris wrote to me regretting that he cannot be here for this debate; we had some banter about it on the Order of Business in March 2007.

Growing up, I can still remember an older generation lamenting the physical absence of the theatre from Dublin over a 15-year period after the 1951 fire. Seán Lemass, when laying the foundation stone of the new theatre in 1963, paid tribute to O'Casey's plays for doing "a great deal to moderate animosities and to enable people to live and laugh together after the Civil War", and to Yeats as "a man of high and lasting patriotism", adding that the same could be said of Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn.

The Abbey Theatre in its second building has served the country and this city well for what will be near on 50 years. It has within limits been adapted and refurbished over the years, with the enlarged first floor bar service jutting out over Marlborough Street, and the new seating. I was there on Tuesday night as a guest with my wife at the premiere of Brian Friel's adaptation of Chekhov's "Three Sisters", including, I suspect, the addition of some humorous touches not in the original. Over the years the Abbey Theatre has staged the works of many important contemporary dramatists such as Brian Friel as well as maintaining and reinterpreting the Irish classic repertoire. Nothing I have said should detract from the excellence of other theatrical contributions and traditions in this city and indeed in this country, but it is the needs, role, and responsibilities of the Abbey Theatre we are discussing today.

Physically, the Abbey Theatre building is not ideal by today's standards, with limited facilities backstage and below stage, inadequate air conditioning and a fairly cramped foyer space. There has been a consensus for a number of years that a new building is needed, and the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Martin Cullen, has a keen interest in advancing the project, as did his predecessor, Deputy John O'Donoghue. While policy is determined by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Martin Cullen, for whom I am deputising, the tendering and construction are supervised by the Office of Public Works in collaboration with the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.

In 2006, the Government decided to procure a design for the new Abbey Theatre at a site in George's Dock by way of an international design competition, IDC, to be managed by the OPW. Based on the outcome of the IDC, the new theatre for the Abbey is to be procured by way of a public private partnership, PPP, project on a build, finance and maintain basis. This site was chosen following an extensive exercise conducted by the Office of Public Works which involved the examination of a number of options, and the project is being progressed on the basis solely of the George's Dock site.

Among the options reviewed were rebuilding at the current site, with acquisition of a number of adjacent properties down to the river; access from O'Connell Street to the back of the old Carlton cinema site; a site on Parnell Square; and a site across the river in the south docks area. In most cases, practical reasons, including the likelihood of prolonged delay, ruled out the other alternatives. The choice of location is a question that is now settled.

The site at George's Dock was provided by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. An international design competition was one of the conditions of the offer of the site by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. Arising from the Government decision, an inter-agency steering committee was set up to oversee the project. The committee is chaired by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and comprises representatives of the National Development Finance Agency, the Office of Public Works, the Abbey Theatre and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. A project team, chaired by the Office of Public Works and comprising representatives of the same agencies as the steering group, has also been established and is overseeing the arrangements for holding the international design competition and advancing the PPP process.

The Office of Public Works has asked the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland to organise the competition. The competition regulations are nearing finalisation. The technical documentation for the competition must be very carefully specified, in particular the detailed accommodation brief for the new theatre. Work on that is nearing completion. A jury for the international design competition was appointed late last year. The jury has representatives from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the Office of Public Works, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, the Arts Council and the Abbey Theatre. It also features international figures in the architectural and theatre worlds. It is expected that the design competition will be launched before the end of 2008. The IDC will be carried out in two phases. Phase 1 involves seeking expressions of interest from architect-led design teams, from which a maximum of 15 teams will be required to submit designs in phase 2 of the competition. The winning design will be selected by the jury.

Technical, legal, insurance and financial advisers have been appointed to guide and advise the inter-agency teams in the procurement of this epoch-making and crucial project. A theatre consultant and an acoustic consultant have also been appointed. Furthermore, a process auditor is in place in accordance with Department of Finance guidelines.

The project is complex and there are myriad factors to address in making progress on it. It remains a priority for the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Government in the programme for Government and in the national development plan. The same teams progressed the National Concert Hall PPP to competition initiation stage last week, and those resources will now be used to advance the Abbey Theatre PPP. When the winning design has been chosen, the National Development Finance Agency, in conjunction with the OPW, will oversee the PPP procurement process in accordance with PPP guidelines.

Both the Minister, Deputy Cullen, and I are confident that when the international design competition is complete in some years' time, we will have a world class design for a new iconic landmark building for the city, and the new quayside theatre will be a dynamic structure reflecting Dublin's growing reputation as a global capital of culture and creativity. It will be readily accessible by public transport — the future Luas line will run beside it — and there is also a footbridge across the river.

As Senators will have seen from this morning's newspapers, a Dublin docklands expansion plan was launched yesterday and there is no doubt that cultural facilities ought to be part of that vast new area of the city. At the same time it is very accessible from the existing city centre and is a fine location which I visited yesterday.

With the Minister, Deputy Cullen, I look forward to a new national theatre building that makes a bold and visionary statement about modern Ireland while at the same time acknowledging the historic significance of the Abbey Theatre to Irish life over more than a century. The Abbey will continue to be a national cultural institution that acts as a magnet to draw our citizens and visitors alike towards enjoying the inspiring drama and creativity our country and heritage has to offer.