asked the Minister for Justice the number of occasions on which the lifts installed in Áras Uí Dhálaigh during the course of the past two years have been stuck between floors; the number of people in the past two years who have been entrapped in the said lifts; the length of time for which each person has been so entrapped the moneys which have been expended in each of the last two years for the carrying out of repairs on the said lifts; the reason the door to the stairs in this building is locked and only used by staff working in the building when members of the public and court officials who have to gain access to various floors in the building cannot do so by way of the stairs; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dublin Public Building Lifts.
13.
Detailed records are not available for the full period covered in the question — it will be appreciated that it would not be normal practice to keep records of this nature unless and until it became clear that there was a continuing breakdown problem. However, I am informed that there have been 35 service calls in connection with the main lifts installed in Áras Uí Dhalaigh since 1 June of last year. While people were trapped in the lifts on some of these occasions, records were not kept of the numbers involved or of the length of time for each person prior to 1 February 1989. No person was trapped since that date. The Office of Public Works recently took the lifts in charge and have placed a maintenance contract which came into operation on 1 May. Neither my Department nor the Office of Public Works have expended any moneys to date on repairs to these lifts.
The door to the stairs from the front hall is kept locked for security reasons. Persons wishing to use the stairs may be permitted to do so by the porter on duty at the reception desk in the lift lobby.