Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Question 633: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of buildings his Department are renting within the State; the rental costs of these rentals in 2009; the average length of the leases of these buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12288/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Rental costs on properties occupied by the Department are, in general, met by the Office of Public Works.

However, at the end of 2009, the Department entered into an arrangement whereby its National Monuments Service will occupy a proportion of an archival and storage facility as a sub-lessee of the National Museum of Ireland. This shared arrangement in optimal accommodation and environmental conditions will ensure satisfactory long-term preservation and protection of a range of valuable archaeological materials of common interest to both bodies. The Department's share of the rental costs, amounting to €105,000 for the period to the end of 2011, was paid to the National Museum of Ireland in December 2009, on entering the arrangement.

The Department is also renting storage space in Galway and Cork. The costs associated with Galway are approximately €1,200 per annum, while the rental cost for the space in Cork was €21,870 in 2009.