Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are two points arising out of the Minister's answer. The first point is the budget for a new courthouse is about €18 million. The Minister referred to €160,000. That is a very small fraction. The second point is that the Minister mentioned the Island of Geese, which is the old Denny factory site right in the centre of town where it is proposed to put the new court building. That was gifted to Tralee Town Council back in 2014. Big plans were made for social housing and for a community centre. There were some 160 different suggestions as to what could be put in there but ten years later it is vacant and idle. There is nothing in there at the moment apart from a kind of a garden. Now is the opportunity. An Post has planning permission and it will be moving out by February of next year. The Department would save the State a lot of money. I know the Minister for Justice is not the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and that she does not have any control over what An Post chooses to do with its building, but I suggest that the Minister would ask the relevant Minister, I believe it is the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan, if that portion of ground would be open for sale to the Courts Service. Then the site there at the moment could be used for another facility, perhaps for An Garda Síochána.

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