Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his response, although I would dispute some of the facts in it. Over the past 18 months, the two words "Shamrock Plaza" have become dirty words in Carlow town. This building is seen as a pay-off for developers who built it in the so-called Celtic tiger years. The building is totally inaccessible. There are a number of car parking spaces, but as far as I understand these are limited to the staff working in the building and are being paid for by the HSE. Once again this is an example of a totally unaccountable HSE, a monster created by the former Fianna Fáil Government of which Deputy Kelleher was a member. At a rent of €1,000 per day, I question the value for money.

Can the Minister confirm the length of the contract entered into for this building? The rumour is that it is for 20 years. At €1,000 per day or €320,000 per year, the cost works out at €7 million over a 20-year period. That is a significant amount of money. We could do a lot more work with it. We could build a facility. What contracts are in place and will they be reviewed over the next period of time?

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