Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

I will raise another parochial issue, that of the West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen. I highlight the great background work done by the local community, including those involved in the arts, as well as my former colleague and Minister, Mr. John O'Donoghue, who has west Cork connections. His wife comes from the area. He did great work in preparing the framework for the arts centre which is likely to go ahead, as funding has been set aside for it. Those involved were asked to go back to the drawing board to determine whether they could achieve better value for money, which was a reasonable request.

In recent weeks I met a group of local business people who were concerned that, under the new tendering system, west Cork contractors might not get a fair bite of the cherry. The Minister of State visited a gaelscoil in Bantry last week. Not only is the gaelscoil wonderful, but a new community campus was constructed by a public private partnership at a cost to the State of €15 million or €16 million. The companies involved were Pierse Contracting and Sisk & Son Limited, but Pierse Contracting got into difficulty in the middle of the work.

The same problem permeates Skibbereen, in that there are no local contractors, be they plumbers, electricians, plasterers, labourers or carpenters. Any company that undertakes work is not required to be Irish. I hope the work on the arts centre will proceed. When it does, what mechanism is in place to ensure local anchorage? If a contractor from Northern Ireland or England tenders for the job, there will be no local input. We would have a fantastic facility for the area, but there would be no quid pro quo for the local community. In the Bantry example people travelled 60 or 70 miles to do their work and then travelled home. That local people were not employed meant the local economy received no input. This issue should be examined. The tendering process must be followed under EU regulations, but the same situation could obtain in Gweedore in north-west County Donegal just as much as it could in Bantry in west Cork. It is not good for a community or area if locals are not involved in what is a great project.

The Minister of State might confirm whether the news for the arts centre is positive. People in west Cork deserve it, as they have done trojan work behind the scenes. West Cork is a cosmopolitan area, with a mix of artists, important members of the film industry and so on. Will the Minister of State allay my fears and those of the community that, if the project proceeds, local builders and contractors will be denied a bite of the cherry?