Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 16 October 2025
Public Accounts Committee
Financial Statements 2024: Health Service Executive
2:00 am
Mr. Bernard Gloster:
Yes, our understanding is that the cost of bringing it into use for any purpose we would use it for would be punitive. In terms of return on investment, it would not make any sense for us to do it. It would hoover up an enormous amount of capital that we badly need for other things. What the cost would be for other State agencies which might have a different use for it, for example, for housing or accommodation, I am not sure. I would not be expert in that, but, to be fair, it would be costly. However, I am more than happy to dispose of it on the interstate agency transfer system if any other entity wants it. However, I will have to be informed of that because I cannot just take it off the market and be lumbered with trying to mind it again for the next five years. If somebody wants it, they can have it, within the guidelines and rules. If nobody wants it, we are going to sell.