Deputy John P. Wilson has given permission to raise on the Adjournment the structural collapse of Cavan courthouse.
Adjournment Debate. - Cavan Courthouse.
I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment of the House. I would first like to set the scene with regard to Cavan courthouse in order to indicate to the Dáil what is involved in this problem.
Cavan courthouse dates from 1828. It was designed by the architect John Boden in a street which one could call a street of character. Boden also designed the Protestant parish church directly opposite. The Chair knows the street very well as being an elegant one. We also have in that street a tastefully restored home for Bord Fáilte. It has a certain style about it and consequently it is important that the courthouse should be restored to its original state. There is in the same street a neo-Renaissance style cathedral which has been widely criticised. For all those reasons, including the 19th century houses of similar character, there is an obligation on people who have responsibility in this regard to see to it that the courthouse is restored.
We happen to have in the county the foremost expert on the restoration of houses and in publishing accounts of both public and private buildings in this and other countries. He is a recognised authority and has a certain amount of missionary zeal with regard to this subject. I refer to Mr. Patrick Shaffrey and his wife, who is also an architect. They have published widely on these types of buildings and their restoration.
Quite recently the markethouse in Monaghan was restored and Patrick Shaffrey was the architect. The markethouse in Bailieborough was also beautifully restored. The old plaster was cut away, the beautiful clean stone was exposed, the building was pinned up and so on. This is a trend into which the restoration of Cavan courthouse would fit very neatly.
This courthouse, built in the late 1820s, has been giving cause for concern for some time and the county registrar for Cavan has been warning about it. His offices are there and it housed the District Court and the Circuit Court. The court clerk also had offices there, as had the county manager and county council officials. It was a multi-purpose building but there is no court there now. The warnings of the county registrar were not heeded and we were exceptionally lucky that there was not a serious tragedy in the place. The Circuit Court is now being held in Bailieborough and the District Court is moving from one place to another. It was in the Protestant hall for a while and is now housed in the town hall, which was tastefully restored recently.
The dangers that were being highlighted by the county registrar impacted also on the County Cavan solicitors' association. The President, Mr. Peter Fitzpatrick, and the secretary Mr. Cusack, and their solicitor, Mr. John V. Kelly, took action in the High Court because they felt so strongly about it. They were trying to compel the Minister for Justice to put the courthouse into a proper state of repair. That was a couple of years ago. In December 1984 the High Court made a conditional order of mandamus against the Minister for Justice requiring him to do just that. Mr. Justice McWilliam was the judge involved and he retired in 1985. The Chief State Solicitor's office made all kinds of wet excuses and dry excuses about getting on with what the court decided should be done.
Finally the Department came up with plans and they were costed by the quantity surveyor. The costs were frighteningly high as far as the county council were concerned. They were right to be frightened if it was intended that the county council should pay fully for the cost of restoration. I maintain that they should not and I will make that point later on. The county council saw themselves in the position of not being funded properly to provide the services which by statute they are bound to provide. Consequently they felt frustrated and angry to a certain extent and they were worried about the whole prospect.
About January this year the High Court made the order absolute. This order directed the Minister for Justice with the Minister for Finance to put the court accommodation into a proper state of repair. We must not forget that their specific interests were the courts, Circuit and District. There was also the question of accommodation for the county registrar, the district clerk, the county manager and council officials. It was a multifaceted problem. The High Court made absolute the order of mandamus demanding that the Ministers for Justice and Finance should put the courthouse into a proper state of repair.
Mr. Justice McWilliam dealt with the case originally and when he died and the case went back to the court, it was dealt with by Mr. Justice Lynch.
For the record, I do not think Justice McWilliam died.
I did not mean to imply that because I know that he is alive. He has retired, and I am glad he is alive; he is a neighbour's child.
It appears to me that the attitude of the Chief State Solicitor's Office with the wet and dry excuses continued. There was dilatoriness, delay, shuffling, backpedalling and no honest facing up to what the High Court had demanded should be done. Mr. Justice Lynch obviously saw this and he asked to see the order the Minister for Justice gave to the OPW to proceed. He also indicated that the association representing the solicitors should get a copy of that order.
Up to today nothing has been done and that underlines my point that there is a lot of backsliding and failure to face up to the order of the court. On 12 February last I put down a question to the Minister for Justice about the courthouse and it was reported at column 2438, volume 363, of the Official Report. The following is the quotation from the Official Report:
Mr. Wilson asked the Minister for Justice the present position with regard to the provision of courthouse accommodation in Cavan Town.
Minister for Justice (Mr. Noonan, Limerick East): Consequent to the making absolute by the High Court of a conditional Order of Mandamus and under the authority of section 6 (1) (a) of the Courthouses (Provision and Maintenance) Act, 1935, I recently directed the Commissioners for Public Works to execute such repairs and to do such other works as may be necessary or proper to put the court accommodation at Farnham Street, Cavan into proper repair or condition.
Lawyers tell us that clear words do not need interpretation and those words could not be clearer, but up to this moment nothing has been done.
I understand that the matter will be before the court again on 28 July but in the time between the two court appearances something pretty disastrous has happened. The warnings of the county registrar went unheeded, the order of the High Court went unheeded and the next thing we heard about was a collapse in the court. The issue of The Anglo Celt of 12 June carried a report of the incident and a big picture which this eager and anxious House wants to see.
We cannot have an exhibit, not even of The Anglo Celt.
I may not be able to exhibit the newspaper but I can refer to it en passant. The newspaper carries a picture of the collapse in the chamber. The staff in the office of the county registrar, and the county registrar, county council officials, and the district court clerk and his staff were put at risk. Fortunately the young man who had been sorting out ballot boxes for the forthcoming referendum in that area had gone to lunch. I would not like to have been responsible for the delay that caused that collapse and it is not an exaggeration to say that people could have been killed. Had that happened people would have been very quick to look for those responsible and put the finger on them.
Mr. Danny Brady, Chairman of Cavan County Council, indicated to me today that a very short time before the collapse he had received Sir Peter Lawer, the Australian Ambassador, whom the Chair knows, in that place. I do not wish to drum up sensationalism and I am giving cold facts. Somebody could have been killed by what happened and that is not good enough. On the question of funding I am aware that buildings in this country, like the courthouse in Cavan, which has a nice Doric facade, have been renovated with the aid of European funds. The Cavan building is set well back from the street and is particularly suitable to its surroundings. I would regret if a decision were reached to abandon it altogether, as was suggested by some people. In my opinion that building should and could attract some Euro funding. It is in the nature of a national monument, a building of distinction that dates from 160 years back.
The Department of Justice, or the Department of Finance who are responsible for the OPW, whichever agency feel responsible, should research the possibility of getting Euro funding for the restoration of Cavan courthouse. There is a Bill dealing with national monuments before this House or the Seanad and I am aware that there is a growing interest in that whole area. Cavan courthouse would be a worthy building in that respect. Similar buildings have been renovated with the aid of European funds. As Minister for Education I was at the opening of what was formerly a Franciscan monastery as a craft centre in France. It was because that building was part of the heritage of France and, consequently, the heritage of Europe, that Euro money was made available for that project.
The county need help and the possibility of getting it from Europe should be explored. Support is also needed from central Government. In the circumstances that local authorities find themselves in, Cavan County Council's own funding should not have to be the major share of a restoration project. I understand that a plan is ready and has been costed. All that is needed is the fiat of the Minister and the financial support of the Government. I should like to thank the Chair for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter and I hope there will be a positive reaction from the Government.
Deputy Wilson has outlined the position in regard to this matter.
Under the terms of the Courthouses (Provision and Maintenance) Act, 1935, local authorities are charged with the responsibility to provide and maintain in their functional area such court accommodation as the Minister for Justice may direct. In the event of the council failing to fulfil its obligation the Minister for Justice is empowered to direct the Commissioners of Public Works to put such courthouse accommodation into proper repair and condition. Whenever the commissioners have done such works they are entitled to recover the costs and expenses incurred as a civil debt in any court of competent jurisdiction or by deduction by the Minister for Finance from any grant or moneys under his control payable to such council.
The involvement of the Commissioners of Public Works in this matter commenced in December 1985 when they were made aware that on 2 December 1985 an order of mandamus had been granted by the High Court against the Minister for Justice directing that the court accommodation at Farnham Street, Cavan, should be put into proper repair and condition. This order made absolute a conditional order made on 20 December 1983.
Following consultation with the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Justice on 31 January 1986 formally directed the Commissioners of Public Works to execute such repairs and do such other work as may be necessary or proper to put the said accommodation into proper repair and condition.
Cavan County Council had already prepared in 1983 a scheme of works at the courthouse which houses the court accommodation and the county offices. Tenders for the scheme which involved proposals for renovation and refurbishment of the building itself and the provision of an office block at the rere were received by the council in October 1985. The total cost of all the works; including fittings, furnishing and fees, was £2.7 million. This gave rise to problems of financing for the county council who had previously approved a lower estimate of £1 million.
Following receipt of the instruction of the Minister for Justice, representatives of the commissioners with an officer of the Department of Justice met members of Cavan County Council and the consultant architect. Subsequently the proposed scheme of works was examined by the commissioners' architect who advised that the scheme provided a practical and economic solution to the accommodation problems of the court and the county council while at the same time preserving the main facade and walls with their classical features. The cost was regarded as fair and reasonable.
It was intimated that if the county council could secure favourable funding terms they would be in favour of proceeding with the scheme directly. The commissioners' view was that in the event of the county council agreeing to proceed with the whole project they, the commissioners, would be agreeable to regard the county council as their agents for carrying out the works stipulated under the mandamus order. The commissioners would assume a monitoring role in respect of those works. The High Court would be advised accordingly.
By letter dated 11 April 1986, Cavan County Council advised the commissioners that the council had agreed to proceed with the work on the basis of the plans prepared and the tenders received, and had authorised the raising of a supplementary loan which together with the original loan would make up the all-in cost of the scheme. The council further advised that applications had been made to the sponsoring Departments, that is, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Environment, to authorise the raising of the necessary funds.
Subsequently these Departments sought the sanction of the Minister for Finance for the revised cost estimate of £2.7 million for the scheme. Sanction was formally conveyed to them by letter of 11 June 1986. The letter conveyed authority to enable the necessary arrangements to be made by Cavan County Council to borrow from the Local Loans Fund the proportion, 45 per cent of the cost relating to court accommodation and by way of direct loans the amount, 55 per cent — relating to the county offices. It is not the policy of the Department of Finance to make money available from the Local Loans Fund for the purposes of county council accommodation.
Once the financial arrangements have been made by the council the way should be clear for them to proceed with acceptance of a tender. The matter is due for mention in the High Court on 28 July 1986 when a report on progress must be made.
The courthouse collapsed when it heard about the money.
The Dáil adjourned at 11.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Friday 20 June 1986.