Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will comment on the money allocated for projects under his Department and under the National Development Plan 2007 to 2013; the projects that will be prioritised under the plan; if this money is distinct from that allocated under the normal Estimates procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5542/07]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that under the new National Development Plan, covering the period 2007 to 2013, almost €2.7 billion has been allocated for a range of programmes and projects in the Arts, Culture, Sport and Tourism areas within the remit of my Department, made up of €904 million under the Cultural Sub-Programme, €991 million under the Sport Sub-Programme and €800 million which has been allocated to the Tourism Development Programme.

My Department will have responsibility for the expenditure of this funding either directly or through bodies under the aegis of my Department such as the Arts Council, the Irish Sports Council and Fáilte Ireland. Accordingly all the funding will be allocated through the Vote of my Department in the context of the annual Estimates process, with the exception of some funding for capital projects in the National Cultural Institutions which will be allocated through the Vote of the Office of Public Works.

Full details on the funding available from my Department and the bodies operating under its aegis, and the investment priorities together with indicative financial allocations for the next seven years, are set out in a number of press releases issued on the announcement of the new NDP. These can be accessed on my Department's website www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie.

As may be seen from the press releases there are a number of major infrastructural projects which will be funded under the new NDP in the areas of Arts, Culture, Sport and Tourism. These include a new National Concert Hall on the Earlsfort Terrace site, the new Abbey Theatre, redevelopment of the Wexford Theatre Royal, major projects at the National Museum and National Library, the development of a state-of-the-art Sports Campus at Abbotstown, the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road Stadium and the National Conference Centre.

The development of some of these projects is already under way and work will commence as soon as possible on others. The objective is to have them completed within the lifetime of the NPD but specific completion dates are not yet available.