asked the Minister for Finance if it is a fact that the total estimated cost of the new Irish Embassy in Nigeria is £64,000; and if he will request revised plans at a lower cost with a view to providing a more modest building at a much less sum.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Embassy at Nigeria.
10.
The Irish Embassy to Nigeria is located at Lagos. There is an acute shortage of residential accommodation in that city and in the absence of any practical alternative it has been decided to build a house for the Ambassador and a house for the First Secretary of the Embassy. A site for the purpose has been made available by the Nigerian Government in an area which it is intended should be developed as a diplomatic quarter. Building costs in Nigeria are very high by comparison with those obtaining in this country, this being due in part to the fact that much of the building material has to be imported. Moreover, because of the nature of the subsoil in the area, foundation works are more costly than normal.
The scale of the accommodation proposed for both of the houses is quite modest, and I am satisfied that it would not be possible to provide suitable buildings at a lower figure than the estimate of £64,000.
Is it seriously suggested that residents of Nigeria planning to build themselves houses spend £32,000 per house?
That is the average.
That is daft.
It is.
I suggest that if that is the Minister's information, he ought to make better inquiries. I can tell him there are a lot of respectable people living in Nigeria who do not spend a fraction of £32,000 to build a residence.
The Board of Works were surprised, too, and they made very detailed inquiries and examined the matter carefully before agreeing. I might mention that piles have to be driven 60 feet under the houses because of the nature of the soil— running sand.
Surely we cannot assume everybody in Nigeria building a residence selects a site in which he has to bore down 50 feet? Are we not approaching this from the wrong angle? I agree it is necessary to house ambassadors adequately but would not something more modest than a structure of this kind be sufficient?
As far as the accommodation is concerned, it is certainly very modest. I examined it myself very carefuly. I admit, of course, that the ordinary native Nigerian does not have this type of house.
Would it not be possible to get an alternative site away from the outskirts of the city?
We must take the site allocated by the Nigerian Government.
I am afraid somebody has wiped your eye.
They have their own laws and regulations and have allocated a certain district to the Diplomatic Corps.