asked the Minister for Finance whether and, if so, when it is proposed to repoint the granite-flagged esplanade in front of Leinster House.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Leinster House Esplanade.
6.
(Clare): Complete repointing of the granite esplanade is not considered necessary. Some lengths of jointing are in need of attention and will be repointed during the Summer Recess.
Will the Minister accept that that esplanade, the necessity for which was hotly contended when it was first laid down, is growing moss and, for all I know, rare Alpine growths, in the interstices left behind by the decayed mortar which is now disappearing from it, and that it needs repointing? Will the Minister agree that it would be more seemly to attend to what we have here, and in this House, than to pretend to what we have not? It would be far more seemly if the Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg were asked to walk in over a granite esplanade which was not growing weeds as this one either is or shortly will be, and never mind the blue carpets.
(Clare): As I have stated, some work will be done during the Recess. Some of it needs attention.
I met the Superintendent of the House about a year ago casually in the corridor and I said: "That granite esplanade in the front needs attention, when are you going to re-point it?" Within about a week I saw a man out there poking around or removing mud from the crevices from which the mortar had disappeared but nobody completed the job. It would be more seemly for people in a State such as ours to look after what they have in a proper manner.