Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 15: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he has concluded discussions with the Department of Education and Science, the Office of Public Works and University College Dublin in regard to the relocation of the UCD site to Earlsfort Terrace to allow for the redevelopment of the National Concert Hall; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20285/05]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 22: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he has considered the proposals for the expansion of the National Concert Hall; if discussions have taken place with University College Dublin regarding the acquisition of buildings at Earlsfort Terrace; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20206/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 22 together.

As I have advised the House previously, officials from my Department and the Office of Public Works over several years engaged in extensive consultations and investigations with a view to identifying a suitable location for a state-of-the-art National Concert Hall in Dublin. When last year it emerged that the university authorities were intent on completing the relocation of University College Dublin from Earlsfort Terrace to Belfield and had taken practical steps in that direction, the Office of Public Works advised me that reconfiguration of the site at Earlsfort Terrace, part of which is currently occupied by the Concert Hall, would provide opportunity for implementation of an imaginative design concept involving the provision of three separate performance spaces and access to the Iveagh Gardens. This innovative and exciting design concept has caught the public imagination as is evident from the positive public reaction to the proposal.

Officials of my Department met some time ago with the university authorities to register strong interest in having the site at Earlsfort Terrace transferred to the State as soon as it was vacated by UCD. The financial parameters within which such a transaction might take place have now been clarified with the Department of Education and Science and, accordingly, I intend in the near future to seek Government approval to proceed with the redevelopment of the National Concert Hall at Earlsfort Terrace.