asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state (a) whether any plans for the conversion of the Store Street premises for use by his Department have been made, and, if so, by whom; (b) whether his Department have been consulted in the preparation of such plans, and, if so, by whom; (c) whether the architects employed or to be employed on the conversion plans have been chosen, and, if so, their names and by whom they were chosen; (d) whether any liability for the payment of such architects has been incurred or is likely to be incurred by any Government Department, and, if so, the liability accruing to date and anticipated prior to handing over the premises to his Department; (e) the number of staff which it is anticipated the converted building will accommodate, and whether this equals or exceeds the total staff of his Department; (f) whether he has considered the desirability of acquiring only the office portion of the premises and not the omnibus garage, and (g) his reasons for deciding to acquire the whole building.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - The Store Street Premises.
As I informed the Deputy on the 15th of last month, the premises mentioned are still the property of Córas Iompair Éireann.
The particulars required by the Deputy, so far as available, are as follows:—
(a) Plans for the conversion of that part of the premises which will require alteration have not yet been made but, with the company's approval, there have been discussions of the necessary changes between the secretary of my Department and the architect and other consultants of the company.
(b) The Deputy's query under this head is covered by my answer to query (a).
(c) The services of the architect engaged by the company—Mr. Michael Scott—and of the other consultants already engaged are being retained.
(d) The cost of consultations with the architect and other consultants to date is negligible and the ultimate cost to be borne by the Department cannot be determined unless and until the premises are transferred to it.
(e) It is roughly estimated that the premises will accommodate staff totalling 1,100, and this figure falls short of the total number of staff of my Department located in the City of Dublin, assuming, for the purpose of this reckoning, the addition of the Dublin headquarters staff of the National Health Insurance Society, which it is proposed to merge in the Department before the introduction of the new insurance scheme.
(f) and (g) I have considered the desirability of acquiring only the office portion of the premises but have found it necessary to acquire also the basement for essential storage purposes and the ground floor for use as public offices.
In view of the long delay which has occurred since the decision of the Government to acquire these premises was announced, will the Minister say if any difficulty has been experienced in the preparation of plans?
No. I am aware of no difficulty that has arisen. Consultations are taking place and every effort is being made to convert the premises for use as public offices. Instructions have been issued that that work is to be proceeded with as expeditiously as possible.
Will the Minister state how it is that the decision announced 12 months ago has not yet resulted in the preparation of plans even for the conversion of these premises?
No decision to acquire these premises was announced 12 months ago. From the time at which it was decided that the Government would take steps to purchase the building-Córas Iompair Éireann having decided to abandon it-every possible effort has been made by the Department to push ahead with the plans for the conversion of the building.
They are not ready yet.
It is not an easy job, but it is being handled with the utmost expedition. It is not a matter on which an architect can be sort of bullied into doing things. He has to be allowed to do things in a competent way, and I prefer to leave the matter in his hands to do it competently.