Change to rules only hope for school
"I don't want to contemplate the project not going ahead but if the rule remains the same and I want to go ahead with the Cork School of Music I will have to take 60m out of my first, second or third level budget and I don't have that," Mr Dempsey told the Oireachtas Education Committee.
Responding to intense criticism from numerous Cork TDs on the failure of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme to complete the development, Mr Dempsey said he was determined to see the project finished, but had to deal with reality.
"We as a department and me as a minister are committed to the project but we have to find a way forward and we haven't been able to yet," he said.
In December, 2002 it emerged that the EU financial watchdog, Eurostat, viewed PPP projects as the equivalent of government borrowing and included them in its calculations of the general government balance (GGB).
That then placed considerable doubt on the future of the PPP system and the implementation of projects like the Cork School of Music since its funding would breach Ireland's obligations under the Stability and Growth Pact of the Maastricht Treaty.
"The situation is as it is and the Cork School of Music currently would be treated as part of our GGB if we decided to go ahead with it," said Mr Dempsey.
"We don't agree with the ruling that has been made but we have to operate within the rules," he said, adding the Government believed Ireland should be given more flexibility and freedom.
In light of the impasse over the project, Cork South Central TD Batt O'Keeffe confirmed yesterday that he has requested the comptroller and auditor general to review all PPP projects with a view to establishing the likely financial exposure to the State if projects fail to go ahead.
Cork North Central's Billy Kelleher said there was major unrest in Cork over the issue and insisted there was no way the school could not be built, while the Cork Colleges Branch of the Teachers' Union of Ireland said its members had been kicked in the teeth.
"This is not some theoretical problem on the minister's desk. It is about real people facing real ongoing difficulties in their struggle to provide music education in this region. They have, in effect, been rendered homeless by the minister's actions. What would he now have them do," demanded local branch secretary Pat Ahern.
Meanwhile, Jarvis Projects the firm chosen to build the school and which has to date spent €8m on the development now believes the project will no longer proceed.
It is understood the firm will not sue, as has been suggested, but will be seeking a return on its investment from the Government.
