Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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631. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to Parliamentary Question No. 51 of 9 May 2018, the purpose of the €1 million paid to date to Cork City Council; if this €1 million was reimbursed to the council in respect of costs incurred; the breakdown of the €1 million; if, on completion of her Department's analysis of the project, it must then be referred to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for further assessment; if it is her Department or the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that has the final sign-off on the extra €10 million of funding that has been sought; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22272/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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In December 2015, in accordance with the terms of a Service Level Agreement between the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Cork City Council, and with prior sanction from Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, €1 million was paid to Cork City Council in respect of the Cork Event Centre project.  The breakdown of the expenditure of this €1 million is a matter for Cork City Council but includes, I am advised, some funding towards the cost of professional advices obtained as part of the project.

As sanctioning authority for the project, my Department needs to ensure that the project is robust, complies with the Public Spending Code and will deliver value for money for the Exchequer. Allocations of funding are a matter for me, as Minister, in the first instance, but are also subject to the sanction of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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632. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to Parliamentary Question No. 51 of 9 May 2018, the terms and conditions of the service level agreement in place between her Department and Cork City Council in respect of the €12 million that has been committed to date for the project; if there is a time limit in the agreement within which the €12 million must be drawn down; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22273/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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My Department allocated €12 million to Cork City Council towards the cost of the Cork Event Centre which is being developed and managed by Cork City Council.

As with all capital grants from my Department, the allocation is managed under a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the City Council. The SLA was signed in December 2015 when the estimated cost of the project was €50 million. Since then, the project cost has increased and while the full cost has not yet been agreed, it is likely to exceed of €70 million. Aligned with the increase in the project cost is a request from the City Council for additional Exchequer funding of €10m. This is being considered at present. Any revised funding agreement would require a revised SLA.

Under the existing SLA, my Department is to provide funding of €12 million to the project subject to the Council complying with the terms and conditions which include the registration of a charge on the facility, the production of documentary evidence that all funding is in place to bring the Event Centre into public use, tax clearance certification and the provision of information on the Centre for a period of ten years from the payment of the grant, as well as payment procedures. The SLA covered a period of four years.