Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will appreciate that I am not getting involved in a commercial negotiation on the floor of the Dáil. The Deputy has served as a Minister in the Government so she will know it would not be appropriate for me to do that. I have said in my reply today and in previous replies that the Deputy is correct that the OPW regrets that the issue arose in the first place. The OPW never attempted at any stage to conceal it and admitted from the very start that an error was made. The Deputy is correct that the impact to date is in the region of €1.4 million. We are hoping that over the next fortnight, there will be a further meeting. I told the Deputy when the matter was most recently raised with me in the Dáil that face-to-face meetings between the landlord and the OPW were due. Since then, three meetings have taken place and another will take place. We hope to be in a situation whereby we can move forward in a collaborative way but the Deputy will appreciate, as I said in an earlier part of my reply, that it is complex and commercially sensitive. I hope we will be able to resolve this matter and when we do, I will be able to provide further updates to the Dáil.

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