The Taoiseach vigorously defended his plans for a national sports stadium in the face of renewed Opposition criticism.

He denied a claim by the Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, that the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr McDaid, had misled the House on the issue.

He added that an official in the Department of Finance had a view which might or might not be correct in due course.

"His view is that the project will not get private sector involvement in the island. We know there are many people interested in private sector involvement."

He added that 0.1 per cent of total spending in the State used to go on sport. "That is a sad reflection . . . We have moved it to 0.4 per cent."

Addressing Mr Noonan, he said: "When I gave £5 million to Croke Park, back in 1992-93, you almost had a seizure. You were totally against that. As soon as the project is finished, you will want to be there for the opening."

Earlier, Mr Noonan said it was a measure of the Taoiseach's utter determination to press ahead with the Stadium Ireland project, at any cost, that it took a freedom-of-information request to establish the facts.

"Why, when we were debating this issue last May, did he, or the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr McDaid, not inform the House that the Government had been advised by the Department of Finance, through the Minister for Finance, that the estimated cost of the stadium was probably £100 million more than the figures given in the House?

"The House was also not informed that there was little likelihood of private investors getting involved because there would not be a return on their investment. The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation misled the House, and the Taoiseach, by standing over the figures, also misled the House.

"The chairman of the Stadium Ireland project said this morning on the radio that the tendering process was continuing and that the bids would be presented to the Cabinet for approval in July. I understood that when the Tanaiste prevailed on the Taoiseach to do a full financial review of the project, tenders would not be evaluated or accepted and that further contractual obligations would not be entered into."

The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, agreeing, said that in the light of the ambiguity surrounding the project, and the apparent lack of openness by Dr McDaid, the Taoiseach, and others, the value-for-money audit should be truly independent.

He asked if the Taoiseach and the Government were prepared to ask the Comptroller and Auditor General, who was an independent person answerable to the House, to undertake the audit before any contractual commitments were made on behalf of the taxpayers.

Mr Ahern replied that the Government had decided, on May 1st, to undertake an independent review of the costs and benefits of the project. That would be the second overview, because the first professional estimate of the cost of the project was provided by Pricewaterhouse Cooper in the feasibility study.

"That is the figure the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Stadium Ireland and I have used. The next professional analysis of the cost will be provided by the bidding process, which is currently under way."

In the meantime, he added, the Government had decided to hire independent consultants to provide an overview to assist in determining the final exchequer allocation to the project.

That overview, he said, would assess the benefits as well as the costs of the development, the attendant infrastructural work and the upgrading of existing facilities in Abbotstown.