EU FUNDING of 75 per cent for the proposed national conference centre at the RDS, Dublin, could be lost unless the project was speeded up, the Fianna Fail spokesman on tourism warned.

Mr David Andrews said that the delay, which arose from a complaint made to the EU Commission, might push the project out of the structural funds timetable. He urged the Minister for Tourism and Trade to get "some civil servants on their bikes to Europe to find out exactly what the status of this objection is."

The Minister, Mr Kenny, said that he had not been formally presented with the objections to the project, which had been circulating within the legal section of the Commission for quite some time.

"I am very anxious, and I have communicated this to the Commission and its representative here, that we would be presented with this complaint as quickly as possible, so that it can be dealt with."

He shared the view that the proposed centre should be proceeded with as quickly as possible, but it could only be done so in compliance with the procedures laid down.

Mr Andrews asked if Mr Kenny could be certain that 75 per cent funding would be forthcoming for the project. Complaints had been made publicly, particularly from the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and others, about the slowness in processing the project.

Mr Kenny said that the procedures involved had to be followed to the letter of the law. He was not in a position to say that the project would receive 75 per cent grant-assistance.

Under the rules of the operational programme, such proposals, backed by bodies like the RDS, were potentially eligible to receive up to 75 per cent. It was a matter essentially and finally for the European commissioner.

Mr Robert Molloy (PD, Galway West) said the conference centre was a flagship project and of enormous importance. Anybody looking at its slow pace could not but be alarmed that the funds might not be available. Everybody involved seemed very dilatory in the manner in which they were handling the project.

"It is of no major concern to those in Brussels whether the money goes into this project or some other one in Spain or Italy or somewhere else. It is of great concern to us that this money is allocated and used for this project."

Earlier, Mr Kenny said that the potential benefits of the proposed centre were considerable. Europe as a whole catered for over 350 major conventions annually, and it was estimated that a minimum of 15 such conferences, representing an extra 30,000 delegates, could be secured by developing the proposed centre.

When account was taken of the fact that international conference delegates to Ireland typically spent slightly over £1,000 per head, the proposed centre would have the capacity to generate additional tourism revenue of £30 million and support over 1,500 extra jobs in Irish tourism.

It would also help to improve the seasonality of tourism.