I am given to understand that it is proposed to sell the Teagasc premises at Sandymount Avenue in Dublin. Those premises, as I am sure the Minister is aware, were purpose built for An Foras Talúntais many years ago and passed to Teagasc, when that organisation was set up in 1988.
I understand the proposal to sell the premises arises directly from the very restrictive approach to the funding of Teagasc taken by successive Governments and by successive Fianna Fáil Ministers for Agriculture ever since it was set up in 1988. From its very inception it has been unmercifully squeezed both in relation to current and capital funding. It is the fact that it has been throttled by Fianna Fáil Ministers for Agriculture that has apparently led to the current proposal to sell the premises.
I am informed that the current market value of the premises at Sandymount Avenue is estimated to be between £1.5 million and £2 million but that the replacement cost of the site and building is estimated at £4.5 million. Apart from the acquisition of new premises, relocation costs are estimated at about £800,000, including the cost of the first year's rental on new premises. In addition, there would be recurring annual costs as a consequence of the sale, amounting to £300,000 for administration and management and a further £300,000 for the extra costs of carrying out the current range of activities from new and more dispersed locations.
There is an alternative to outright sale, to mortgage the premises. A suggestion has been made that a mortgage be taken out of 75 per cent of the assessed market value of the premises. On the analysis I have seen, any mortgage up to a market value of £4 million would produce a financially more attractive result than outright sale at a price of between £1.5 million and £2 million. There is a very clear question here in relation to the taxpayers' interests and the interests of Teagasc.
Under the terms of sections 15 and 21 and the First Schedule of the Agriculture (Research, Training and Advice) Act, 1988, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry has a direct key role in any decision about property in the possession of Teagasc. I would like the Minister to give a clear account of the current financial position of Teagasc which has led to the proposal being made. Why is the sale of the Sandymount Avenue premises being considered? Is it, for example, for the reason enunciated some time ago in Enniscorthy by the current chairman of Teagasc, a man noted for his tact and gentleness, who said the premises would have to be sold to stop the animals from wandering back into the sheds? Will the Minister tell us what other options, if any, have been considered, what the benefits, if any, of those options will be, where those benefits will accrue and how? In the absence of clear explanations on those points I fear very much that the interests of Teagasc and of the general taxpayer will be seriously at risk.