Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans for expansion and improvement works at the Newbridge Local Social Welfare Office, County Kildare, which is experiencing poor and cramped conditions for both employees and visitors to the office; the progress that has been made on these works; the timeline for the completion of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44099/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department recognises that it requires additional office accommodation to meet the needs of social welfare customers and staff in the Newbridge area. It is working closely with the Office of Public Works (OPW), which has responsibility for the acquisition of all accommodation requirements for the Department, to that end. There are currently four projects in hand with the OPW which, on completion, will fully address its office accommodation problems in Newbridge. One of these projects will be completed by the end of this year. Planning permission has been granted in the case of a second project and a third is at the design stage. Both of those projects will be completed in 2013.

The fourth project is the largest and most complex of the four. While the other three projects will provide a welcome alleviation of the current office accommodation problems, a fully satisfactory outcome will not be achieved for either staff or customers until the fourth project is completed. It is still at a very early stage of development and it is not possible to give a realistic completion date until further progress is made in site selection and detailed design.