Govt criticised over unused education facilities at St Pat's

The Government has come in for criticism over facilities at St Patrick's Institution for Juvenile Offenders.

It has emerged that a €7.5m education unit at the institution went unused for four years because the Government only recently opened negotiations on staffing arrangements.

The unit is now operating on a limited basis, but Fine Gael TD Billy Timmons says the fact that it has taken this long to be put into use shows a lax attitude towards taxpayers' money.