Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on the joint capital project between his Department and Dublin City Council to construct new permanent accommodation for a city morgue; the reason his Department has now opted to progress the stalled development of this project through a public-private partnership; if he has given any consideration to advancing the project through traditional tendering and procurement processes; the reasons for his decision; when he expects the project to be fully completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14860/13]

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the current status of the State Pathology Laboratory announced under the national stimulus plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15191/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 427 and 450 together.

The project in question envisaged the building of a morgue, sophisticated autopsy facilities, secure on-site storage and office accommodation for the Office of the State Pathologist and the Dublin Coroner. The facility was to be built on a site owned by Dublin City Council in Marino, Dublin 3. A contract was awarded and the project commenced but the building contractor went into receivership in late 2010 leaving the build at a very early stage of completion. Following the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure there was insufficient funding available under the current capital envelope to finance the original project; nor was there any possibility of State funding being made available in the foreseeable future. As a result, other options to recommence and fund the project were examined including the completion of the build under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

Consequentially, the project was initially included in the PPP as a mechanism to access capital funding to complete the build. Following the examination of the project in detail under the PPP process, it became clear that the PPP was not the most appropriate mechanism for accessing finance to complete the build given its relatively small scale and the specialised and complex nature of the build. As a consequence the project has been withdrawn from the PPP process.

Given the identified deficiencies in the current facilities and accommodation available to the Office of the State Pathologist and the Dublin Coroner it is considered essential that action must be taken to provide more suitable facilities in the short to medium term. An alternative proposal is therefore being considered which is to utilise the former Whitehall Garda Station as a site to provide different and more scaled down facilities. Compared to a new build this option would obviously provide a more limited and less technically sophisticated range of services but it would address some of the key concerns while retaining some of the benefits of the shared approach. This proposal is subject to assessment as regards suitability and a full analysis of the costs involved. However, it is believed that this option now presents the best mechanism to address the current problems in the shortest time period and at the least cost to the State. A Project Team has been established to develop the proposal and make recommendations in this regard.