Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I ask Ms Morrison to come back to us with that information on the number of premises rented and the cost involved per annum. I have previously highlighted the issue of the site on Mountrath Road. I was back and forth on this with Mr. Buckley, Mr. Conlon's predecessor. It cost in the region of €1 million. It was purchased following the time of decentralisation in 2002. Prior to the local elections, there was an announcement which looked like it came off the back of an envelope or a cigarette box. That site is lying idle. Seven premises were rented in the meantime. There is a cost per year for renting premises, so it has been costing a fortune. All sorts of unusual premises were used, including one and two-bedroom apartments in a housing development to house the Department, with inadequate Internet connections.

With regard to the site on Mountrath Road, while they may not have the answer now, the witnesses might tell me what is going to happen to this site. The Garda station was going to be relocated there temporarily while works were carried out on the main Garda station. The bushes are growing pretty high on the site at the moment. It is a good, natural, wild area and given we are trying to rewild areas, the only function that I can see it providing at the moment is carbon sequestration. It is sitting there. We cannot afford to have sites like this sitting there in a town the size of Portlaoise. It has to be put to use. If the OPW is not going to use it, we need to decide what it is going to be used for. Does the OPW have any information on this matter?