Michael Noonan defends €4m restoration of department buildings

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has defended the need to invest €4m of taxpayer money into restoring the buildings that house the two government departments that oversee the country’s finances.

The makeover of buildings that house the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure is currently ongoing and is due to continue until autumn of this year under the lead of the Office of Public Works (OPW).

In a written Dáil response to Joan Collins TD, Mr Noonan warned “if the current programme of works were not carried out, then both departments may have needed to vacate the building on health and safety grounds and seek office space elsewhere in the vicinity at additional cost”.

“The project includes the replacement of old electrical fittings with energy saving appliances and a complete electrical rewiring, which in turn necessitates plastering, repainting and redecorating.

"Fire prevention systems are being upgraded to current standards,” he explained.

“Some non-structural partitions are also being removed to optimise office space utilisation. Given the historic nature of the building, conservation architects from OPW are overseeing the project and OPW is sharing the total cost of the project with the two departments in 2015 and 2016.

"The total cost is approximately €4m,” the minister added.

“The project provides the opportunity for some restoration works for the South Block part of the historic Government Buildings complex,” he said.