Three cheers for Ceann Comhairle as O’Donoghue gets €1,000 chair

“QUESTIONS must be addressed to the chair!”; “Deputies may not involve the chair in public controversies!”; “Every deputy will be treated fairly by this chair”; “You must be seated while the chair is standing!”.

John O’Donoghue’s affiliation with the seat he sits on has made for some memorable exchanges in the Dáil since he took over as Ceann Comhairle last summer.

And such is the affection between the two, the chair is to get a new chair at a cost of €1,000.

It emerged yesterday that the recent refurbishment of his office has cost taxpayers more than €100,000. Added to the Ceann Comhairle’s plush surroundings were almost €30,000 worth of carpets, €11,380 on curtains to adorn his windows and a nice new €1,000 chair.

The new bathroom in his Leinster House office cost a massive €58,712.

Figures provided from the Office of Public Works (OPW) under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act show the total cost of €3 million was spent on refurbishing Leinster House in the past two years.

The recent relocation of Bertie Ahern to new offices as he stepped down from Taoiseach to back-bench TD cost the taxpayer €250,000.

Mr Ahern’s new office on government-owned land across the road from Leinster House includes a 10.5 square metre bathroom and shower area covered with mosaic tiles.

Almost €70,000 was spent on furniture, cutlery and crockery for the office, which contains a kitchenette, wardrobes with solid and laminated timber.

The OPW said Mr Ahern was briefed on the proposals for renovating his new offices but said the former Taoiseach did not make any requests on how the office should be fitted out.

The OPW figures show €935,845 was spent on a massive fire safety upgrade and an overhaul of the Dáil bar, a further €295,340 on refurbishment of broadcasting studios and €6,703 on the Kildare House crèche.

The most expensive project was the construction of An Siopa, a charity newsagents inside Leinster House that cost €978,662.

Labour’s housing spokesman Ciarán Lynch said the spending raised questions about the Government’s priorities.