Vol. 533 No. 6
37 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he has satisfied himself with the performance of the Office of Public Works in relation to the design, layout and completion of Leinster House 2000; if, in particular, he has further satisfied himself that it undertook appropriate and adequate consultation with the users of the building; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9584/01]
When I came into office I established that there was a clear need for additional space to address the unsatisfactory office accommodation within the Leinster House complex.
A feasibility study showed that it was possible to develop a building of approximately 8,500 square metres on this site for a budget of £25 million.
The brief, which evolved following further in depth and lengthy assessment of the requirements of Members and staff, determined that the Office of Public Works should develop a building that would be highly flexible in nature to maximise its use now and in the future.
A steering committee was established to oversee the development, chaired by me and comprising of members of the Committee on Procedures and Privileges, Oireachtas management, Office of Public Works officials and officials of the Departments of Finance and the Taoiseach. The committee held its inaugural meeting on 23 November 1997 and further meetings were held on 2 April 1998, 17 June 1998, 8 October 1998, 29 April 1999 and 2 February 2000. At each of these meetings the members were apprised of all issues in relation to this development, that is planning, design, lay outs and building progress. Numerous meetings at a working level involving members of the steering committee and Office of Public Works officials took place at all phases of the development. There were also numerous meetings with the party Whips and party administrators and staff representatives on room allocations, office layouts and other matters. Full and wide-ranging consultative discussions took place throughout the entire development with all users of these offices.
As part of the overall consultative process a sample prototype office was constructed on site and shown to members of the steering committee. The office was also widely viewed by other Oireachtas Members and staff and any observations made, for example, suggestions on furniture configuration, storage facilities, lighting, decoration, etc., were taken on board in refining the design for the final office layout.
Following completion of the building works, the Office of Public Works has continued to provide a help line and personalised service to Members and staff in relation to the new offices and has dealt with the many additional items that Members and staff have requested, that is additional furniture, shelving, notice boards, and individual customising of offices. Information notices advising Members and staff on any outstanding issues and the time frames for dealing with these issues were issued by the Office of Public Works.
Additional InformationA customer satisfaction survey on the overall facilities in Leinster House is currently being conducted. This is evidence of my commitment to consultation with Members and staff in Leinster House.
It should also be recognised that all existing office accommodation in the '32 Annex, five storey building and engineering block was fully upgraded for Members of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann to a comparable standard to the new annex building during the summer recess 2000. This accommodation was fully refurbished with new heating systems, redecoration, furniture etc. The speed with which this work was undertaken and the quality of workmanship in the refurbishment has attracted much praise. This work and the construction of the new annex building were achieved with minimal disruption to the working arrangements of the Oireachtas, and to those of Members and their staff. The Office of Public Works is to be particularly commended in this regard.
It was originally intended that staff of the Oireachtas would also be accommodated in the new Leinster House annex building, which comprises 8,500 square metres of office space approximately. However, it was decided that all this space would be allocated to Oireachtas Members and staff to maximise the facilities available to them. The staff of the Oireachtas will now be accommodated in Kildare House, as will the Oireachtas crèche and fitness room. Refurbishment work on Kildare House is in planning and will be undertaken this year.
This major project was completed within the budget of £25 million. I am satisfied that, notwithstanding certain industrial relations difficulties experienced by the main contractor which were outside the control of the Office of Public Works, the new building was delivered at the earliest possible date. I am satisfied there was an appropriate level of consultation by the Office of Public Works conducted with Members and their staff at all stages of the project.
Is the Minister of State aware that in the committee rooms there are no ancillary rooms, no waiting rooms for those appearing before a committee? Two inquiries are due to take place shortly. There are no rooms where people can meet with their expert advisers. Is he aware that the shape and size of rooms used by Members are unsatisfactory in many cases? Many people are experiencing difficulty in operating in the rooms. The air conditioning in Members' rooms is not working properly or is inadequate and if one opens the windows things blow all over the place. The matter needs to be sorted out. It comes back to the fact that consultation with Members ceased when the building was coming near completion. I understand that more than 12 months elapsed before the completion of the building when there were no committee meetings to discuss the nitty gritty of the offices, the actual layout and so on. That should have been the crucial period when Members' input would have been important. Is it not because of the lack of consultation with Members that the difficulties arise?
The committee rooms operating in Leinster House are probably the most modern that exist in any parliament in Europe. The only comparable committee rooms in existence are probably in the new Reichstag in Berlin. That has been said not by me but by others who observed the building. What Members do not realise is that the committee rooms are specifically designed as almost modern television studios, which is what emanated from many Members in the context of what the future will hold for the broadcast of committees. The design is incredibly technical. The facilities and all the digital equipment is there, something which is not available in many other parliaments. The circulation space for committee rooms in the ground area was designed, as in other parliaments, as holding areas for people to circulate before going into committee rooms. There are attaching to all the committee rooms small interview rooms which were not designed to be large meeting rooms. That is not their purpose. They were designed for a Minister or a member of a committee to meet a person on a one to one basis. The circulation area is a fabulous area which has access to all the committee rooms.
I reject what the Deputy has said with regard to the consultation process. I spent days, nights and weekends consulting Members. The difficulty is that all 166 members of the Dáil and all 60 members of the Seanad became architects and everybody wanted something different. I had to make an assessment in conjunction with all the Members and I think we have got it right. I assure the House that the design and size of the offices in the new building are ahead of even the new parliamentary designs in Westminster and in the Reichstag in Germany. As in any new building a certain amount of teething problems have to be eliminated. That building is the same size as Hawkins House. It was a remarkable architectural and engineering achievement to put into that space such a modern facility. That is the view of the majority of Members who wrote to me on the issue.
There is one small meeting room adjacent to the committee rooms which is unsuitable if witnesses from different backgrounds are being called who may be hostile to each other. I have seen the offices in Westminster and they are superior to facilities here. The room allocated to Fine Gael is underground and there is no natural light. The room is unsuitable for a large party such as Fine Gael where meetings can go on for a long time.
I do not have the figures, but the spend in Westminster was about £300 million sterling. Based on the £25 million spent here, pound for pound we did far better.
We are talking about facilities, not money.
There are other opportunities for developments in the precincts of Leinster House. The steering committee has outlined various options for the development of these facilities. However, Members now have state-of-the-art facilities.
We missed the boat.
