Mattie McGrath urges unbundling of Thalmel Garda station PPP
Mattie McGrath called for the new Garda station project for Thalmel to be separated from a children's court public-private partnership, warning the combined package will cause significant delay. He asked the Minister of Justice to intervene immediately to allow the Garda station to proceed more quickly.
Issue raised repeatedly
McGrath said the Thalmel Garda station has been an outstanding issue for over 50 years and he has raised it for 16 years. He reported that a site is now secured and planning and design work is under way, but the current arrangement is blocking progress.
Concern over bundling with children's court
He argued the project has been bundled with a children's court scheme - a separate vehicle that risks delaying delivery by several years. McGrath urged that the Garda station be unbundled from the children's court to avoid complications and speed up delivery.
Minister outlines scope and options
The Minister responding confirmed the matter covers two Garda stations - in Clonmel and Macroome - and that they are currently part of a PPP bundle with a family law complex in Dublin. The Minister said officials are examining options to unbundle, which could allow Clonmel and Macroome to proceed more quickly.
Next steps and fiscal implications
The Minister said unbundling would require bringing forward some spending and reallocating funding, but could be cheaper over the long term and enable completion within the next year or so. A meeting on the issue is scheduled imminently to work through legal and funding details.
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Shall I raise again the issue of the new Garda station for Thalmel? This issue has gone on for over 50 years. I've been raising it for 16 years since I came in here. We now have a site, thank God, we're planning and design of a sprinted new Garda station. But for some strange reason, and I believe there's a window of opportunity now, this has been bundled in with another Garda station, which we've no problem with, but it's bundled in with a children's court project, which is a totally different vehicle. I believe there's a window at the moment for us to separate, unbundle that from the children's court, because that's going to delay in another couple of years, and there's a chance of progress if we can get that taken out and have the public-private partnership just for Garda stations, not to complicate it with children's court and the different vehicles, as I said. So can you please, with the Minister of Justice, intervene here immediately, because it's very delicate at present and a very delicate stage, as my understanding, and we may be able to make progress if we can get this bundling and segregated again, and get progress. The station in Thalmel, you've seen it, it's the Kinsey, and there's not anybody who walks in it, it's just not fit for progress. Thanks very much, Deputy, and this matter's been raised to me by Senator Hearn, by Deputy Larry, and also by Deputy Cahill. It pertains to two Garda stations, a new one that we need in Clonmel, and a new one that we need in Macroome, and they're very much needed, and they're part of a PPP bundle with the family law complex here in Dublin. If we stick with that, it's going to take forever, so we're now examining, unbundling it, which would allow us to go ahead with Clonmel and Macroome quite quickly, certainly in the next year or so, and we're just working out the details and legals of doing that. It does require bringing forward some spending, but actually, if you take a long-term view, it'd be cheaper to do it sooner, in my view, so it's just the reallocation of funding. So we're working on that at the moment, and actually have a meeting on it tomorrow, I think, so hopefully we can make progress on it very soon.
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