Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his reply. I welcomed the announcement he made on 23 April. The purpose of the question is to obtain a progress report in respect of this matter. On foot of the Minister's reply, I am not sure as to what progress has been made. By all accounts, the Exchequer is still paying for the storage of these machines. Is it correct that a deadline has not been set in respect of completing the process of disposing of these machines?

A letter was sent out to local authorities in September but the Minister did not refer to this. That letter is critical in the context of the audit regarding the number of these machines that are in place and in respect of the escape costs relating to the storage leases, the duration of which is 20 years or more.

Is the Minister in a position to indicate the date by which this project will be scrapped entirely and on which the Exchequer will cease funding it? Has he identified the cost of escaping leases with durations of two, three, four, five, ten and 20 years? What costs have accrued to his Department or to the Exchequer since the announcement was made on 23 April last? How much more will the Exchequer be obliged to pay before the project is completed and the machines disposed of?

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