Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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5. To ask the Minister for Defence the results of the technical examination into dwellings at the Curragh camp; and his plans to remediate these dwellings and deal with those currently accommodated in the area. [20209/14]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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We have discussed this issue on many occasions. The question relates to the accommodation units in the Curragh Camp and must be seen against the backdrop of both the court action and the pressure being exerted by the Department of Defence to remove those families that deemed to be overholders from their homes. As the Minister is aware, my colleague Deputy Wallace offered his professional expertise in examining the properties in question. The Minister instead chose to commission a technical examination of the properties, a move for which we were none the less grateful. Where stands that examination at present and what are the plans in respect of the families involved?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for her question. As she stated, my Department recently undertook an assessment of vacant former married quarter properties in the Curragh Camp with a view as to their potential for future military use as single living-in accommodation. The properties in question comprise a terrace of 16 houses and are typical of the type of former married quarters accommodation vacant in the Curragh. Three of the houses have been reconfigured over time by combining adjacent houses. As a result, there are now 13 individual units in the terrace overall. The terrace is a solid brick structure with a slate roof. The majority of the houses comprise two bedrooms, a kitchen and sitting room. There is a small toilet located at the rear of each house on the ground floor but there are no bathroom facilities. The assessment indicates that in order to be viable for accommodation use, adjacent properties would have to be combined to give a smaller number of larger units. However, the assessment also indicates that the properties are in a very poor state and that the estimated cost of the repairs necessary to make them suitable as accommodation is simply prohibitive. While the outcome of the assessment is still under consideration, it is clear that any renovation would be very costly, would only deliver eight to nine viable units and would be very limited in terms of future military needs. This is not a cost-effective solution to meeting accommodation needs at the Curragh.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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This represents a radical U-turn on what the Minister previously stated in the House. There are approximately 101 accommodation units in the Curragh Camp. Our understanding was that the technical assessment to be carried out would contemplate all of these dwellings and not just the 16 which comprise a particular terrace. If only those 16 dwellings were the subject of the assessment, then it is obvious the Minister has engaged in a sleight-of-hand exercise because the residents and Members on this side of the House understood that much more would be involved.

We cannot divorce this situation from the overall housing crisis that exists and the savings to the State of remediating what are otherwise solid units compared to having to rebuild up to 100 units or homes.

I would like to see the technical assessment thus far. The Minister has given us little detail but he has been remarkably dismissive of the findings. To level the playing field I am keen to have our experts examine the situation. I call on the Minister to furnish us with the interim findings and to explain why the other 87 units which he was supposed to have examined have disappeared off the radar.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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It is my understanding that what was undertaken was a review of these particular units to get some insight into the possible benefits of undertaking renovation works and the likely difficulties that would be encountered. I am told that in the context of the particular group of terraced houses examined, the estimated cost of works was in the region of €863,000, VAT inclusive. In respect of the terrace of 16 houses, this gives an average cost per house of €53,937, if we could preserve 16 houses. However, on the basis of the survey undertaken it was concluded that of the 16 terraced houses, ultimately only nine feasible units could be produced from the renovations. This would put the cost per unit at €95,888. These are not costs that I could stand over in the context of a particular proposal.

Since this was an initial assessment, I have no difficulty asking whether there are buildings in a better state of repair or whether works could be carried out at a lesser cost. However, my understanding is that this terrace was used as a representative example of the difficulties that exist and the types of structure that are in place to get some sense of the costs involved, and I have outlined the costing I have been given.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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I would like to see the full report to date. Even the figures the Minister gave do not amount to an excessive amount to pay for a dwelling house in the current climate. We cannot divorce this scenario from the housing crisis in the State, not least in the Kildare County Council area, where there are thousands on the housing waiting list and the State is going to have to foot the bill.

Reference was made to developing an accommodation unit for €54,000. I understood the Minister stated in his earlier answer that it was not 16 units but 13. Somehow the figure has gone down to nine. Anyway, even €90,000 is not excessive. One could not build a house from scratch for that amount anywhere else. Again, will the Minister indicate whether we will be able to see the technical assessment of the properties such that we can consider it? Could the Minister shed some light on where he sees the families currently residing in those units going as well as the position of some of the other 100 feasible properties in the area? What is going to become of them?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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On the last issue the Deputy raised, I have said previously - giving the Deputy some detail, which I will not repeat - that the individual circumstances of families in particular houses are taken into account. The Deputy is aware of that because there are individuals, whom I referenced previously when the Deputy raised the issue in the Chamber, who are described as overholders in the technical sense and who have been living in some of these houses for many years. There are elderly individuals there. As the Deputy is aware, there is no intention ultimately to discommode them, but they are not in lawful possession of the properties. No one will be rendered homeless on the basis of the manner in which we deal with these matters.

There is a significant wider housing issue which must be addressed. I have explained to the Deputy that as a Government we are altogether conscious of this. The Minister of State responsible, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, is doing what she can to address the issue. Sadly and unfortunately, because of the financial position of the State, there is not an open-ended amount of money that can be made available to address this as comprehensively as we all would like.