Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Basically, the OPW agreed to buy a property in Glanmire in Cork but there was an issue with the closing of the sale. The sale did not close and it dragged on for six years. Eventually the OPW agreed it should proceed with the purchase of the premises and ended up paying six years of interest. The question raised then was who made the decision not to proceed six years earlier. It was the taxpayers who picked up the interest and the interest rate on the contract was way above the normal bank interest rate, so the State got caught twice, with double the amount in real terms. Again there is a question there about accountability. The important thing is that we are writing to the OPW now. We need to be reassured that there are checks and balances there to make sure something like this does not arise again.