Vol. 568 No. 1
266 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 213 of 20 May 2003, if the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas, in its capacity as such, holds or enjoys any rights or property, including rights relating to property, or owes any liabilities capable of being the subject of a conveyance, transfer or assignment, whether by statute or otherwise. [15248/03]
As far as my Department knows, the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas does not hold or enjoy any rights or property, including rights relating to property, nor owes any liabilities capable of being the subject of a conveyance, transfer or assignment, whether by statute or otherwise.
The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Bill 2002, Committee Stage of which will be taken in the Dáil this week, provides the statutory basis for the establishment of the commission and sets out in broad terms the mandate which it will have to oversee and control the day to day running and funding of the organisation.
As indicated in my response to Deputy Burton on 20 May 2003, the Bill, as proposed, provides for rights, including property rights, of the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas, contracts and liabilities entered into on its behalf to transfer to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission on establishment day. That provision is a fairly standard one. This is essentially precautionary to ensure that should any such rights happen to exist, they will not be lost as a consequence following a statutory reconstitution.
Question No. 267 answered with Question No. 265.
268 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Finance if he, or the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, has had any meet ings with a person (details supplied) since the election; and if he, or any member of his Department had meetings, contacts or received correspondence from or with this person or representatives of a company regarding the sell-off of State assets. [15267/03]
The receipt of inquiries from developers or builders regarding the possible sale of State property is a normal feature of the work of the Office of Public Works. The general response to such inquiries is that it is the policy of the Commissioners of Public Works to place sales on the open market.
The Commissioners of Public Works have advised me that inquiries were made by the company referred to by the Deputy in the period March-June 2002 in respect of an Office of Public Works site at Ladd Lane. Meetings took place between a representative of the Office of Public Works and representatives of the named company regarding the marriage value of the Ladd Lane site and an adjoining site owned by the company. The Office of Public Works subsequently decided to dispose of the site on the open market.
