Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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335. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform how long the wall on the Hill of Tara has been under construction, the quantities involved and the cost to date. [3112/25]

Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)
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The Hill of Tara in Co. Meath is a significant, expansive heritage site that visitors can access year round. It is used locally as a walking amenity in addition to attracting visitors from all over the world. The church at the Hill of Tara houses the OPW Visitor Centre for the site and this is open between May and September annually. Tara is one of the five monuments assemblages listed in the current UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list as the The Royal Sites of Ireland.

The OPW Trim District National Monuments team is charged with maintaining the Hill of Tara year-round but they also have responsibility for 165 National Monuments across the district including for example Glendalough, Kilmainham Gaol, Trim Castle and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne.

The works to the graveyard wall at Tara have been ongoing at various times since 2014 and have run concurrently with a number of other conservation projects across the district. OPW craft workers and stone masons carried out the repair and reinstatement works under the direction of OPW Conservation Architects, Engineers and the District Works Manager. These are conservation stone repair works with varying levels of complexity requiring input from a number of sources including the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, from which OPW needs to obtain Ministerial consent for any works at National Monument sites. The consent process can, in some cases, take significant time.

During the period of these works, OPW masons were periodically directed towards other priority projects in the district depending on need. It should be noted also that this type of work is somewhat seasonal as lime mortar should not be applied when temperatures are liable to fall to lower temperatures.

Works to the North, West and South walls are complete, the latter section being completed in 2024. The remaining Eastern section of the wall is archaeologically sensitive. The OPW is engaged in detailed discussions about the methodology to address this section of wall with the National Monuments Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH). The remaining works will not progress until agreement is reached on this methodology and Ministerial Consent obtained. This process of deliberation, which is ongoing for the last two years, has impacted on progress of the very final stage of the conservation works but is a necessary part of the process of protecting the archaeological heritage of the site.

As noted above the work was delivered by the OPW direct-labour workforce. Expenditure on the graveyard wall for the period 2014 to 2024 amounts to €124,159.50 for the purchase of materials (predominantly lime and sand) and the provision of specialist services including expert engineering, archaeological and conservation advices, ongoing monitoring and surveys.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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336. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to break down the individual costs contained in the €82,200 quoted for ancillary costs on the wall that was built around the WRC office. [3113/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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337. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to break down all the individual costs detailed in the initial quote for the €213,000 cost for the construction of the wall at the WRC office in Ballsbridge; if this figure included any car parking facilities for staff discommoded by the construction project. [3114/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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338. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform was the high-voltage live electricity cable, which delayed the works at the wall at the WRC office in Ballsbridge, contained in any ESB or other utility maps in the area. [3115/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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339. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to break down the €61,500 Dublin City Council costs. [3116/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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340. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform whether the construction of the wall at the offices of the WRC was tendered for directly by the OPW, or whether the service provider (details supplied) tendered for the job; the name of the company that won the tender and that delivered the job; the quantity surveyor that signed off on the job; whether that quantity surveyor was an OPW staff member or was a member of the service provider or another private firm. [3117/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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341. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to give a detailed breakdown of the services provided by the ESB for the €54,000 charged to the OPW. [3118/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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342. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the accountability that will be imposed on the processes and individuals involved in the project to build a wall at the offices of the WRC in Ballsbridge. [3119/25]

Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 336 to 342, inclusive, together.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) is responsible for managing and maintaining a significant part of the State’s property portfolio including over 500 office buildings nationwide.

In fulfilling this remit in 2021 an on-site building inspection of a Government owned office building at Lansdowne House in Dublin 4 was carried out. During this inspection, the OPW found that a boundary wall was unsafe and in imminent danger of collapse and would have to be dismantled. The boundary wall was fenced off as a temporary measure, and made safe and a project was initiated to dismantle and reconstruct the wall.

This project was however complicated by the discovery of a high voltage electrical cable beneath the wall which represented a significant hazard if not dealt with in the appropriate manner.

The OPW is satisfied that the correct processes were followed by the project team in the course of this project and in particular in the response to the discovery of the high voltage cable. While this discovery resulted in significant delays and additional costs, the OPW were obliged to address the health and safety risks posed by the discovery of the high-voltage and dangerous live cable. The OPW is also satisfied that their staff and contractor acted appropriately in the particular circumstances that arose in this case. As the planned element of the works (reconstruction of the wall) was delivered in line with estimates the OPW considers that value for money was achieved.

The works to dismantle and reconstruct the wall were carried out under the OPW’s Multiparty Framework for Building Maintenance Services and General Building Works. Phase 1, the demolition of the existing wall, was carried out by PJ Hegarty Ltd who held the OPW contract at the time. Phase 2, the reconstruction of the replacement wall, was carried out by Sensori Facilities Management who then held the OPW contract for the Dublin South region. Quantity Surveying services were provided by Carron and Walsh who have been appointed by the OPW as Contractor Administrator to manage the Framework on their behalf.

The initial inspection by the OPW architect and engineer of the wall noted the absence of piers along the boundary. Given the appearance of the reconstructed wall was to remain unchanged, the engineer proposed the inclusion of additional steel structure within the new wall (to provide additional stability in the absence of traditional piers) and identified the requirement to design a new foundation, to form part of the reconstruction work. The existing wall was dismantled with all existing blockwork retained on site for reconstruction at a later date.

The cost of dismantling the wall was €21,500 ex VAT. The cost of rebuilding the wall was €180,000 ex VAT against an original estimate of €188,000 ex VAT as detailed in the table at Appendix A.

Prior to construction a Design Risk Assessment was undertaken by the design team to establish the location of utilities and services in and around the site. This included an inspection of utility maps and there was no evidence found of services underneath the perimeter wall on Lansdowne Park. In addition, and in accordance with good practice, prior to the contractor beginning the excavation for the new foundations, a ground penetrating radar scan was carried out around the site which showed a cable underneath the now-dismantled wall. The main contractor carefully uncovered the cable and notified the ESB who confirmed it was a live high-voltage power cable.

The discovery of the live cable posed a serious health and safety risk and led to very significant delays as well as increased costs to the overall project. Among the extra costs incurred were €54,000 to the ESB to redirect the live wire. This was the fee charged by the ESB to cover the costs associated with the diversion of the high voltage cable and the OPW was not provided with a further breakdown of the cost.

The payments made to Dublin City Council are costs associated with road closure licences, and recompense for fee paying parking spaces being taken out of commission for the duration of the works. The works were delayed by 20 months as a result of the discovery of the high voltage cable and road closure licence and the decommissioning of the car parking spaces had to be retained for this duration. This resulted in an average cost of €3075 per month. The wall could not be rebuilt without this area being taken into charge within the building site to facilitate the works.

The following table shows the breakdown of the ancillary costs amounting to €81,926.

Appendix A. Breakdown of original cost estimate.