Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Dinny McGinley.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank my colleague, Senator Michael D'Arcy, for allowing my Adjournment matter on the West Cork Arts Centre to be taken first. The Minister of State has had a taste of what west County Cork has to offer since last week. He went down a treat in Bantry.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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I enjoyed it.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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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?

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I enjoyed my visit to west Cork, particularly Bantry last Saturday for the opening of the gaeilscoil. I was impressed by that wonderful facility, which comprised the gaelscoil, the coláiste phobail, the crèche and the naíonra. I thank the Senator for his attendance at the function.

The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has taken a direct role in the provision of grant aid for arts and cultural infrastructure and allocated more than €150 million in funding for capital development of facilities throughout the country in recent years. The arts and culture capital enhancement support scheme, ACCESS, was designed to assist in the provision of high standard arts and culture infrastructural projects, thereby enhancing access to all aspects of the arts. The programme has been widely acknowledged as a significant intervention in this regard. Under the scheme, facilities funded to date include integrated arts centres, theatres and galleries, as well as art studios and other arts production and performance spaces. Almost €86 million has been granted to 120 projects, many of which are community-based arts groups.

The Department provides the bulk of capital funding for building and refurbishing arts facilities, mainly in the not-for-profit sector, while the Arts Council provides the ongoing revenue support for many facilities. Facilities that have been funded to date include integrated arts centres, theatres, galleries, studios and creative and performance spaces.

The first round of ACCESS II funding was announced in April 2007 and some €32 million was allocated to 67 projects. In May 2008 an additional €10 million was allocated to a further 13 capital projects. The emphasis of this round of ACCESS funding was on the enhancement and refurbishment of existing facilities. Only 30% of the funding was provided for new build projects.

Among the major ACCESS II projects assisted were the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Druid Theatre, the Cork Opera House, the Waterford Theatre Royal, the Gallery of Photography, the Model arts centre in Sligo, the Irish Film Institute, the Belltable in Limerick, the Wexford Arts Centre and the Sweeney Memorial Library in Kilrush. The West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen was allocated a capital grant of €1.5 million in April 2007 towards a project costing € 3.7 million. The project may go to tender in August this year. Tendering for the project is a matter for the project promoter, the West Cork Arts Centre, but this process is not yet complete. The timing of invitations to tender for this project is a matter solely for the promoters. Grant aid from the Department is subject to the terms and conditions in the original letter of offer of grant aid, Department of Finance procurement conditions being fully complied with, as well as the availability of funds in my Department. The Department at present is bound by very tight budgetary constraints and some projects will have to wait for capital drawdowns until 2013 and possibly later.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his response. It does not, however, allay my concerns. The need for the Department of Finance procurement conditions to be fully complied with could be the devil in the detail but that is not the Minister's problem.

I was slightly amused to note that in the reply that was circulated, the West Cork Arts Centre was located in "Siberian" and not Skibbereen. I know west Cork can sometimes be like Siberia, like this morning at 4 a.m. when I left home, but I hope this is just a typing error.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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The Skibbereen Eagle kept an eye on the Russian czar.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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That could be the link to Siberia about which I am worried.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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We do not have time to debate that issue today. I call the second matter.