The Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, has told the Dáil that he will soon ask the Cabinet to approve the relocation of the Abbey Theatre to a site on George's Dock, on the banks of the Liffey.
He said the offer by the Dublin Docklands Authority had been the subject of detailed negotiations and that, subject to clarifications on some minor issues, he planned to take the plan for a new theatre on the site to the Cabinet shortly.
He said his officials had been in contact with the chair of the Abbey to get confirmation of the accommodation the National Theatre would need.
The Minister also conceded that it was incredible that the shortfall of nearly €1m in the Abbey's finances could have gone unnoticed.
He said that he had considered changing the arrangements so that the theatre would be funded directly by the Government, rather than through the Arts Council, but had later decided the current arrangement should continue.
However, he said that he would be asking that an official from his department sit on the company's finance committee in the future.
