Capital Expenditure Programme

Wednesday, 1 March 2023

Questions (154)

Robert Troy

Question:

154. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice the capital projects that have been undertaken by his Department in Westmeath since June 2020; the funding allocated each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10552/23]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice

It has not been possible to collate the information requested by the Deputy in the time allowed.

I will write to the Deputy directly when the information is available.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51:

I refer to Parliamentary Question No. 154 to my Department with the answer provided below:

Courts Service

The Deputy will be aware that the Courts Service annual capital expenditure includes over €14m (Annual Unitary Charge) for the Finance, Operation and Maintenance of seven court buildings throughout the country, including the Courthouse in Mullingar, through the Courts Public Private Partnership Bundle project.

Other than this, capital investment in courthouses in Westmeath, similarly to every other county in recent years, has been limited to works required due to Covid-19 or other minor maintenance (e.g. roof works, window and boiler replacements). The only Courts Service building project in the current National Development Plan (to 2025) for which significant capital funding has been provided to date is the proposed new family law court in Hammond Lane in Dublin. Further capital investment in courthouses by the Courts Service will depend on the availability of additional funding in the National Development Plan from 2026-2030.

An Garda Síochána

An Garda Síochána, in conjunction with the Office of Public Works (OPW), have undertaken the following capital building projects in Westmeath since June 2020:

Project	Details	Cost	Completion Date
Athlone Water Unit	Development of a purpose-built facility for the Garda Water Unit, Garrycastle, Athlone.	€2.3m	December 2020
Athlone Garda Station	Refurbishment/upgrade and extension of existing Garda Station, incorporating adjacent former Government Buildings into Station footprint.	€9.1m	December 2021
Mullingar Garda Station	Development of Regional Cyber Crime Hub in Mullingar Garda Station.	€0.2m	June 2020

The Deputy may wish to note that Capital funding in the Garda estate is not split on a county by county basis. The Garda Capital Refurbishment Programme has been allocated significant funding through the National Development Plan. Intermediate projects, to a value of €1M, will be progressed over the remainder of the NDP across the whole of the Garda estate, including in Garda Stations in Co. Westmeath.