A decision on the proposed National Conference Centre for Dublin has been deferred again and now looks likely to face further delays. Bord Failte's Management Board for Product Development met yesterday and was expected to make a recommendation to the Government on a suitable project. Five applicants have submitted proposals and a decision had been due by the end of March.
However, the board said the tenders submitted "are not such as to enable the board to make an award at this time". Instead, the board is to negotiate with tenderers "to enable it to take a decision".
However, first it will appoint a "negotiating team" of independent "technical assessors". They will meet those who tendered for the £50 million plus project. Bord Failte was unable to say last night how long this process would take or whether the negotiating team would include representatives from the existing Product Development Board. A Bord Failte spokeswoman said it was expected the negotiating team would be appointed within about a week. Selecting a project soon is vital if it is to qualify for around £25 million of EU funding. The centre is supposed to be well advanced by the year 2000.
Last night a spokesman for the Minister for Tourism, Sport & Recreation, Dr McDaid, said the Minister fully accepted the board's decision. He said the Minister had "complete confidence in the experience of the board which has been working on this issue for a number of years".
The spokesman said Dr McDaid was aware of "the board's commitment to see to it that every aspect of the procedure is thoroughly completed in such a way as to ensure that the ultimate decision is in total accord with EU requirements".
He said Dublin cannot afford to be the only capital in Europe without a conference centre. "The management board are experts in this field and are proceeding with due prudence and diligence to ensure that their ultimate decision will satisfy EU criteria and qualifying for the large ERDF grant which is absolutely essential for a project of this magnitude in a country like ours," he added.
An earlier decision awarding the contract to the RDS was reversed because of fears that the competition would not comply with EU rules.
After the latest delay, there were suggestions last night that the board was being extremely cautious because of a complaint made to the EU by a Canadian consortium, Moytura Developments, about the current competition. Moytura said the competition was not "equitable, fair or transparent" and claimed it was prevented from making an offer for a large CIE site which now forms part of another consortium's proposal.
The Product Development Board's statement was very vague in parts, but referred several times to EU Council directives, as an explanation for why it was taking this particular route. It is understood that once the board decides on a project it will inform the Government. The board will then have to carry out a cost benefit analysis of the project before a final recommendation is made. This study is expected to take at least six weeks.
Five parties are tendering for the project. These include the RDS, the Office of Public Works (OPW), the Sonas Centre, Treasury Holdings and the Anna Livia consortium. The latter is the working title of the Grand Canal Docks project submitted by developer Sean Dunne. It is located on the old Bord Gais Eireann site.
The OPW project is based at a site near the Phoenix Park, straddling Infirmary Road. The Sonas Centre project is based at the Phoenix Park racecourse.
Treasury Holdings heads the fifth consortium. Its project is earmarked for the CIE-owned railway yards on the North Wall, equidistant from the IFSC and The Point.
