The vice chairman of the Causeway Coast and Glens Ltd., Cllr.Norman Hillis, has strongly criticised Government departments for an "unacceptable delay" in providing a new Visitors' Centre at the Giant's Causeway. Mr. Hillis said the Department of the Environment and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment had shown no urgency in providing a replacement for the previous centre which was destroyed by fire. He said: "It is outrageous that seven years on there is no replacement centre, particularly when an estimated three million people have been to the most visited tourist attraction in Ireland and not had the opportunity of an enhanced experience at the Province's only World Heritage Site. "Now the Environment Minister Arlene Foster is openly backing a privately funded proposal for a visitor centre despite the fact that two years ago plans for a new £12m centre were unveiled after an international competition which attracted more than 200 entries from architects across the world." Mr. Hillis added: "I believe the Government departments involved should hang their heads in shame that so much time and public funding has been wasted. "Now, for some unknown reason, Minister Foster seems to have decided to run with a different design from a private developer. "Tourism Minister Nigel Dodds says it would not be a prudent use of taxpayers' money to proceed further in the circumstances, given Minister Foster's position on the private sector planning application, but I think both departments should be telling the public just how much money from the public purse has been spent on this matter to date with no centre in place."