Restoration cost and conference plans
The restoration cost was estimated at about £20 million. The Minister said earlier Governments had considered various uses, including an EC conference complex.
Can the Minister inform the House how much money has been spent on refurbishing the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham? Was there not a decision at some stage by some Government to reconstruct the Royal Hospital as a location for meetings of EC committees?
Comment on this
My brief did not extend to a detailed examination of the costs involved in the restoration work. I understand there are separate questions on the Order Paper about this. It has been published fairly widely that the overall cost was in the region of £20 million. I would not dispute the general accuracy of that figure.
So far as the EC meetings are concerned there were many ideas about the possible use of Kilmainham advanced from 1970 onwards. In August 1978 the concept considered by the then Government was the building of a conference hall complex in the grounds of the Royal Hospital with underground connection to the Royal Hospital itself. The restoration work was to go on at the same time and the hospital building was to be used as ancillary to the general conference complex. That was the idea at that time. An integral part of it was the building of a new conference hall complex.
A decision was taken subsequently in 1981 not to proceed with the conference hall. When my committee began to examine the possible future use of the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham, the first thing we had to do was to see could the existing building accommodate the conference hall complex. We consulted the Office of Public Works and the Department of Foreign Affairs. At that time the Office of Public Works were making preparations for essential renovations in Dublin Castle. We found that the conference hall complex could be accommodated there. We asked for a cost analysis and we found that, as between building the new conference hall complex in Kilmainham and establishing it in the extra room available in the castle, the cost would be substantially cheaper to provide it in the castle. I understand that is the position at the moment. That was our examination of the conference hall complex and the possible use of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham for EC purposes.