To date, the Government have paid out £1,148,343.71 on work directly related to the proposed multi-sports stadium on the site of the former Maze/Long Kesh prison. The figure includes consultancy fees.
I thank the Minister for that slightly strange answer. There is genuine concern, among not only football supporters in Northern Ireland but the wider community, about the handling of the Maze project and the lack of transparency and accountability. Does he welcome the fact that the new Administration starting on 8 May will be able to consider the whole project again and ensure that all the sports organisations and all the people of Northern Ireland know its true cost? Will the question of whether the stadium should be in Belfast be properly studied?
I have to take issue with my hon. Friend on those points. The Maze panel is constituted from members of all the political parties in Northern Ireland. It has been supported and it has helped develop the project to date. The incoming Administration, with Member of the Legislative Assembly Edwin Poots as the Minister responsible for the project, will have an opportunity to review the matter in due course. However, my hon. Friend knows that we have considered stadium sites in Belfast and ruled them out on the grounds of cost and efficiency. We have the support of all three sports, all four parties and many people in Northern Ireland to develop the site for not only the sports stadium at the Maze but the economic and social well-being of Northern Ireland, especially Lisburn.
Given that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently praised the advantages of a city centre stadium in Cardiff compared with out-of-town and suburban stadiums in generating atmosphere and a sense of occasion, does my hon. Friend think that any lessons can be drawn for the correct siting of the stadium in Northern Ireland?
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is correct: Cardiff’s millennium stadium is the best site for Cardiff and Wales. We have examined the opportunities offered by sites in Belfast at the Titanic quarter and the north foreshore, and both proved unsuitable. The three sports, the four political parties on the Maze panel and many others, including the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society, wish to see the development of the Maze site. That is rightly a matter for the incoming Assembly, and I hope that it examines it. I hope that, as our team has done, it will conclude that the Maze is the best site for the stadium and the development generally.