Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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168. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if a post-project review has been compiled and published for the National Convention Centre PPP as per the public spending code. [17018/19]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the National Convention Centre opened in August 2010.  Its first five years in operation were considered “ramp up” years to allow the Centre to build its brand and market position and become fully operational.  

The guidelines for post project reviews under the Public Spending Code do not explicitly set out a minimum number of years before such a review should be conducted, but after examination of the project my officials have taken the view that given the nature of the business there would be greater value in conducting a post project review when sufficient operational evidence existed following the “ramp up” period, as otherwise the costs and benefits could be subject to external factors and random fluctuation.   Bearing this in mind, my Department is currently in the process of collating and examining the relevant documentation with a view to assessing whether sufficient and appropriate data now exists to conduct a post-project review of the performance of the National Conference Centre on the basis of the intended outputs and outcomes.