Mr. Brian Purcell:

I will cover the matter briefly. The head of the Probation and Welfare Service, PWS, is in attendance and if he wishes to address the matter, I will give him the opportunity. There were limitations to the premises being used in Parnell Street. Subsequently, those premises had to be vacated due to concerns about fire and safety issues. An attempt was then made to find suitable premises in the area.

From the time the Bridge Project came into being, it was located in Dublin 1 in the vicinity of Parnell Street. There were reasons it was desirable to maintain the premises in that general area, which I am sure the head of the PWS will go into. A suitable premises was sought out. The particular premises under discussion came onto the radar. At the time, the OPW was engaged to ascertain whether the rent sought was reasonable by reference to similar accommodation in the area. It should be remembered that this was at the peak of the boom. In hindsight, it appears from the way the market has gone since that the figure was expensive in terms of both what had been paid out previously and what was actually paid out. At the time, the PWS engaged with the OPW, which was the body that gave the go-ahead. The OPW assessment was that the rent represented the lower end of the market for the type of accommodation in the area.