Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 October 2018
152. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he has taken to independently assess the controversy caused by the acquisition of a stadium (details supplied) by his Department for €23 million, which is above the market value. [44086/18]
View answerThe Department's decision in 2017 to acquire the Harold’s Cross Greyhound Stadium site was taken in the context of a review of demographics of the south Dublin city area which demonstrated a substantial projected growth in enrolment, known limited land availability and the impending sale of the site by the Irish Greyhound Board. From a school provision perspective, the site is well located to serve south Dublin city.
In March 2017, the Department requested of the Irish Greyhound Board, that the DPER Circular 11/15: Protocols for the Transfer and Sharing of State Property Assets be followed to advance the acquisition.
This circular requires the Valuation Office to provide a determination of market value of the property to be disposed which is binding on both the disposing and acquiring Government Department or State body.
The acquisition price of the property to which the Deputy refers was based on the property's market value as determined by the Valuation Office. The Valuation Office is an independent expert agency which provides independent and impartial valuations in accordance with International Valuation Standards.
In the interests of transparency I have published the Valuation Office Report on my Department's website - link as follows.
https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Education-Reports/valuation-report-of-harold%E2%80%99s-cross-greyhound-stadium-site-by-valuation-office-update-note-.pdf.
In addition, the Valuation Office provided a recent update to my Department which outlines the considerations which applied to this particular valuation. This update, which was requested by Department and received on 15 October 2018 is also published on my Department's website - link as follows.
https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Education-Reports/valuation-report-of-harold%E2%80%99s-cross-greyhound-stadium-site-by-valuation-office-update-note-.pdf .
