Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 70: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if the necessary funding will be provided for a new theatre in Monaghan town, which is being supported by the town council, county council and all other relevant bodies; his views on whether this is a very worthy project; if funding will be made available in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15099/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department supports capital arts projects through the arts and culture capital enhancement support scheme or ACCESS scheme. Under the ACCESS scheme, 180 applications were received and 44 of these were selected for funding in 2001. A total of €45.71 million was available for the scheme but applications for grant aid of £224 million were received. All the funds under the current scheme have been fully allocated. Difficult decisions had to be made and many worthwhile projects, including this one, were not successful on that occasion.

I hope to announce a successor to the ACCESS scheme in the near future. Applications for any such successor scheme will be invited by public advertisement. Applications will be assessed in an objective way on the basis of clear and transparent evidence and advice. I will be meeting shortly with representatives from the Monaghan theatre project to discuss the project in greater detail.