Departmental Properties.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 June 2006

Tuesday, 13 June 2006

Ceisteanna (203)

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

237 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Finance if, further to the undertaking given by the Office of Public Works in February 2006 to take remedial action to address excessive air temperatures in certain party offices in Leinster House 2000, the action that has been taken to date; the steps in place to address uncomfortable air temperature conditions caused by solar heating and heat generated by office equipment; the reason no action has been taken since this commitment was given; when action will be taken; if temporary measures to address the problem are being implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22456/06]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Mr. Parlon)

The Office of Public Works has arranged for air conditioning to be installed in the Labour Party Press Room and this work was completed on the weekend of the 10th June 2006. In addition to this the Office of Public Works has engaged with a specialist contractor with a view to installing heat-reflecting film on the glazing as a temporary and experimental measure on two floors on the south facing façade in Block A of LH 2000. It is intended that this work should be completed before the end of June 2006. This satisfies the commitment given in February 2006.

It should be stated that the original design and installation in the building provided some infrastructure for local cooling in high gain areas but it was not possible to utilise this in the Labour Press Room due to the lack of available space and so an alternative solution was needed.