Peter Barry
Question:14 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Finance when building will commence on new CSO offices in Mahon, Cork.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - New Central Statistics Offices.
Tenders for the proposed Central Statistics Office in Cork were received on 28 February 1992. The architectural and financial details of the tenders together with the question of site location are under consideration at present. It is not possible, at this stage, to say when work might commence.
It was understood that the decision would be made before 1 April.
I have no knowledge of that decision. When tenders come in they have to be analysed and evaluated. The Office of Public Works will then make a recommendation to the Department of Finance, who in turn will make a recommendation to the Government. There is normally a minimum of three months before a decision is possible. It would not be possible to have tenders in by 28 February and a decision by 1 April.
Will the Minister indicate that when a decision is made it will be made purely on financial and cost benefit grounds and not on any political grounds, as efforts have been made to drag in another location in the city even if the Mahon site is considered the most suitable and the cheapest?
I do not know what Deputy Barry is trying to suggest. Every decision is taken on clear criteria and not just on financial grounds. Every tender sought carries a caveat that the lowest tender need not be accepted. That is traditional Government and commercial practice. The decision in all decentralisation cases is taken on the basis of location, design, architectural layout, accessibility and financial considerations. The decentralisation programme has been extremely successful, even though Deputy Barry was a member of a Government who cancelled the programme. A decision has never been taken on the basis of personalities or politics.
I will ignore the uncharacteristic cheap gibe of the Minister. Is the Minister aware that the site in Mahon has been offered free by the Cork Corporation for the purpose of building the CSO and that this almost by definition will be the cheapest tender that is arrived at? I want an assurance from the Minister that if other pressures are coming on him not to build in Mahon for political reasons, he will not succumb to those pressures.
I am not being pressurised to select a particular site. Part of the decentralisation programme is that where the Government decide to relocate staff, the local authority must provide a site free of charge in each case. In order to ensure that the taxpayer gets value for money and that equal opportunity is available to all, the State always invites tenders from the private sector. The only pressures coming are political pressures in Cork where the politicians do not seem to be able to agree where the site should be. In the final analysis we will take the decision.
I am glad to be assured of that. I also want an undertaking that the decision will be made as quickly as possible to avoid further disagreement among the politicians of Cork.
A decision will be taken in the normal way.