The Government is in the tricky position of having to build a National Children’s Science Centre (NCSC) that it clearly doesn’t believe in.
The saga goes back over 20 years to the Fianna Fáil-led coalition which first endorsed the idea. The project was put on hold during the financial crisis and that might have been the end of it, had the board of the NCSC not persevered. They went to arbitration and extracted a legal commitment from the Office of Public Works (OPW) to build the centre.
Enthusiasm has been clearly lacking in the Government’s subsequent attitude. A second round of arbitration took place in 2022 which found in the board’s favour. As things stand, a site has been chosen in the North Wing of Earlsfort Terrace, and planning permission granted. But the foot dragging continues.
The chairman of the OPW, John Conlon, told the Public Accounts Committee this week that there are several further hurdles that must be jumped before the project becomes a reality.
He said that no money for the project is included in the National Development Plan and that the project should be subject to a value for money analysis before funding – estimated at €70 million -– is committed. Other issues that need to be resolved are which Government department will take ownership of the project, governance arrangements for the delivery and oversight of the facility when opened.
If the tone adopted by the members of the PAC is any guide, there is deep scepticism as to the necessity or viability of the project. Matters are complicated by the opening in the interregnum of a similar privately-owned facility in Dublin.
The sponsors of the NCSC may have a legal contract but the project is unlikely to see the light of day without Government buy-in. There is a clear case for a cost-benefit review and it is very much in the sponsor’s own interest to have one. It may turn out to be an attractive proposition, but no one will want to preside over a taxpayer-funded white elephant.