Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Ultimately, the suite of offices in question was divided up into a large office space for the then Minister of State and four staff and a holding area to keep people away from him - in other words, there was no direct access to his office. I understand this is fairly standard practice within the Office of Public Works when accommodating Ministers or Ministers of State. It has been well reported in recent weeks - as a result of replies to freedom of information requests - that a very lavish and extremely comfortable bathroom facility was also put in place in the suite of offices. It seems no expense was spared in fitting out the suite. If we compare the expenditure relating to it with that for the only comparable we can locate for the same year - this relates to the provision of offices for a Minister of State in the then Department of Health and Children's headquarters at Hawkins House - in the amount of approximately €70,000. For the record, will Ms McGrath inform the committee as to the entire amount of money expended on the new office suite at the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on Kildare Street?