Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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501. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline the current and capital costs associated with upgrading regional veterinary laboratories; and the planned allocation in 2025. [41073/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is working in partnership with the Office of Public Works to deliver a redevelopment programme of our outdated regional laboratory facilities. The Programme plan is to deliver replacement laboratory facilities at current sites in Kilkenny and Sligo, an enhanced facility in Athlone and a large new specialist laboratory centre at a new site in North Cork replacing current facilities in Cork and Limerick. The programme also includes the development of five Transfer-To-Laboratory centres (TLC) in North West and North East, South West, Mid-West, and West, to extend the provision of post-mortem services countrywide.

The programme will be delivered in phases – delivery of phase 1 is underway and is focused on developing an exemplar laboratory design that will replace existing facilities in Kilkenny in the first instance. An exemplar TLC design, that will be developed on Department owned lands at Raphoe and Ballyhaise, is also being progressed. Following site surveys, acquisition of a site in North Cork for the new Munster laboratory is ongoing. The design team is currently finalising the exemplar designs and it is expected that planning applications will be submitted to the relevant Local Authorities in the coming months. Completion of the design phase will enable provisional costing exercises by Quantity Surveyors to take place which will provide indicative estimates of costs and enable the necessary processes to be progressed subject to the provision of the necessary funding in line with the Public Spending Code.