Forfás pays out €4.7m to rent empty premises

A State agency has paid almost €5m in rent on vacant space in the past five years on a building that it is unable to sub-let to others.

Forfás is tied to a 65-year lease on Carrisbrook House in Dublin 4, and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation, Richard Bruton, has confirmed that the agency has paid out €4.7m in rent for the Ballsbridge premises since 2008.

In a written response to Sinn Féin’s Peadar Tóibín, Mr Bruton confirmed that Forfás paid €990,000 last year on the vacant space, also stating that there is no provision for lease breaks on the property, which is subject to upward-only, or equal, rent reviews.