Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Before I call Deputy Mick Barry, I wish to say that Deputies have expressed concern about this particular issue for some time. It is important, when making contributions, that no allegations are made against any identified or identifiable individual.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I hear what he is saying.

This issue relates to the assembly of a site on Anne Street in Wexford on which are now built important public offices for the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection. Alleged serious irregularities in the process of assembly require detailed answers and action from the Office of Public Works, OPW, and Wexford County Council, the successor to Wexford Borough Council.

On 13 January of this year, my colleague and then Socialist Party Deputy Joe Higgins stated in this House:

There have been the most serious irregularities in the assembly of the site for significant public offices which are now occupied by the Department of Social Protection and the Revenue Commissioners in Anne Street, Wexford. That assembly took place over a 20-year period from 1983. I was made aware of the issue as far back as 2008 and I have investigated it at different times in the years since. My concern has grown significantly. I have engaged in significant correspondence with State bodies, including Wexford Borough Council and the Revenue Commissioners, but I have not received satisfactory answers... I am satisfied that there are serious unanswered questions and anomalies surrounding the assembling of this site involving public bodies... The issue is complex and convoluted but documents that I have seen are prima facieevidence of very serious irregularities, giving rise to serious unanswered questions by public bodies in the matter of the assembly of the site.

In response to the then Deputy, the then Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Ann Phelan, stated, "if there are issues with the manner in which these sites were assembled by Wexford Borough Council, they should be raised in the first instance with its successor Wexford County Council."

Following on from the Minister of State's advice, elected members of Wexford County Council, which had subsumed the old Wexford Borough Council, raised the issue at council meetings. To date, documents have been released, but the response of the council executive has not answered openly and transparently critical questions raised by these elected members and affected parties. The then Minister of State claimed in January that the OPW had no involvement in the assembly of the site for the Government offices. This is wholly incorrect. The documentation released so far shows categorically that the OPW was fully involved with the process of assembling the site.

A number of questions must be answered. Why was a substantial part of the site, the subject of a compulsory purchase order, CPO, that was levied on an individual that had no title to most of the area, subject to that CPO? There are questions relating to the title to and ownership of the site. Why were substantial changes made in the design and construction of the offices, as against the planning permission granted, without the OPW applying for a new or significantly modified planning permission? In July of this year, the OPW was in communication with the parties that were seriously affected by the irregularities and undertook to meet those parties and to release all relevant documents. That was in July and we are now in November, but it has not happened. Why not?

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for his question.

In 1990, it was decided to build new Government offices in Wexford. At the time, the OPW owned two sites in the town. One of these was the existing social welfare offices in Anne Street. The other property was in King Street. Following discussions with Wexford Corporation, the Anne Street location emerged as the preferred option for the new Government offices. The development of a new site for a number of Departments, including the Department of Social Protection, the Revenue Commissioners and the Probation Service, required the addition of two adjacent properties to allow sufficient area for the new building. One of these sites was owned by Wexford Corporation and was given the OPW in exchange for the OPW site at King Street. The other property was the site of the old County Hotel which, I understand, was acquired directly by Wexford Corporation and then sold to the OPW for €145,000. The commissioners are not aware of irregularities pertaining to this matter and are happy, as has always been the case, to make their records available.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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I note in his reply the Minister of State states that "[t]he commissioners are not aware of irregularities pertaining to this matter and are happy, as has always been the case, to make their records available". Will the Minister of State immediately instruct the OPW to arrange the meeting to which it committed and to release all of the files relating to its involvement in the assembly of the site and in the planning application and permission for the offices? Will the Minister of State urgently communicate to the chief executive of Wexford County Council that all questions posed by elected members of the council should be comprehensively answered? They have not been so answered to date. Innocent parties have been seriously affected by the irregularities evident in this situation and they deserve justice be done by the State and those agencies acting for it in this matter. I would be grateful for a reply to those specific requests.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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First, let me clarify that the site of the old County Hotel was acquired by Wexford Corporation by compulsory purchase order and then sold to the OPW for €145,000. Previous parliamentary questions on this matter have pointed to a belief that the OPW assembled the Anne Street site. This is not correct. Wexford Corporation assembled the two sites, which were then passed on, one through a land swap and the other through a direct sale to the OPW. As such, the OPW had no involvement with the acquisition of those sites, which is entirely a matter for the corporation. If a meeting was promised, I will speak to my officials to ensure it happens. As stated, any documents that exist will be made available. It does not fall within my remit to write to the chief executive of the local authority instructing him or her to provide additional information. I just have to deal with the OPW issues. I will do that. If a meeting was to be arranged, it will happen.