The consultants' report on the national stadium and sports campus says the full project would cost £625 million to build, of which some £525 million would have to be paid by the exchequer.
{p}the figures are significantly higher than the £550 million construction cost and £350 million exchequer share estimated by the taoiseach and the project company, campus and stadium ireland. However they are substantially below the £1 billion warned of by some opponents of the project and described as unacceptable by the tβnaiste.
{p}the report will be presented to the minister for tourism and sport, dr mcdaid, next week and is expected to be discussed between the taoiseach, tβnaiste and dr mcdaid shortly after that. Deep scepticism remains within the progressive democrats over the wisdom of going ahead with the project, a feeling that has been strengthened by the economic downturn in recent months.
{p}there is speculation in government circles that a compromise could involve the scaling down of the project and deferring elements of it. The current target date for completion is 2005, with the aquatic centre, already under construction, to be ready for the 2003 special olympics.
{p}the costings, in the report from british consultancy company high point rendel, refer to the full project as currently proposed. This includes an 80,000-seat stadium, a 15,000-seat indoor arena, aquatic centre, tennis and golf academies, a velodrome and a number of other elements.
{p}however the report is understood to leave open the option of building a scaled-back version which would cost close to the original estimate.
{p}the consultants estimate the capital cost of the project currently out to tender - which excludes the aquatic centre already under construction - at £360 million. Added to this is the cost of the aquatic centre (£50 million), on-site infrastructure (£65 million), professional fees, construction cost inflation and other contingencies (£150 million), bringing the construction cost to £625 million. They say £20 million should be added to cover a portion of improving road and rail links to the abbotstown site.
{p}the stadium company, campus and stadium ireland development ltd, maintains that the consultants' figure is too high and that in particular, the figure for inflation, fees and contingencies should be reduced.
{p}the consultants identify capital income of close to £100 million that can be offset against the construction costs. This include the donation from mr j.p. mcmanus of £50 million and other private-sector investment including income from the sale of commercial rights. When the capital income is subtracted, the net construction cost to the exchequer is some £525 million.
Again, campus and stadium ireland is understood to dispute this figure, saying that the project will attract greater private sector support .
{p}the report also identifies £240 million worth of benefits that it says should accrue - over a considerable period of years - including tourism income and other benefits. It does not attribute to the project any of the cost of moving the state laboratories from the abbotstown site, or the value of the land itself were it sold for development.
{p}the report also gives options that would increase the cost of the project, including a retractable roof that could be put on the stadium and a change in its shape to a more expensive version.
{p}with the project still awaiting the final go-ahead any substantial spending on it would be highly unlikely to take place during the lifetime of this government. The december budget - the last of this coalition administration - will come before any contracts for the project are finalised, assuming the project is given the green light. The earliest year in which substantial spending would be incurred would be 2003.