Call for loan as Music School still in limbo

THE controversial Cork School of Music is still in limbo as the Government has made little progress in attempting to wriggle out of EU spending rules.

But the Progressive Democrats are suggesting an alternative way of paying for the stalled project by letting Cork City Council borrow the money and getting the Government to pay back the loan.

Minister for Education Noel Dempsey said yesterday that there was little progress to report in the ongoing negotiations on the project. The promised development was halted after it was discovered that going ahead with the public private partnership would put the Government’s borrowing over the limit allowed by the EU.