Tag Archives: Minister for Public Expenditure

PYRITE has been confirmed in Shannon Garda Station, prompting a call for the government to mount a legal challenge against those who produced the defective material. The presence of pyrite, which can cause severe cracking and other structural defects, was confirmed to Deputy Cathal Crowe, who said he will now seek answers from government on where that material came from.  The discovery was made after the Fianna Fáil TD queried that status of a request to have the building painted. In response to his question, the Office of Public Works (OPW), who manage thousands of public buildings, said pyrite had been detected. “A routine inspection early last year at Shannon Garda Station raised concerns in respect to cracking observed in the external façade of the building,” a reply outlined. “The OPW appointed external consultants to investigate the cause of this cracking and the consultant’s report confirmed the presence of pyrite in the external leaf of the building.” Deputy Crowe described the …

DEPUTY Michael McNamara has accused the government of being “deceitful” over its announcement that an extra €38 million has been provided for mental health services in the Budget. Welcoming the total package of €50 million, Deputy McNamara claimed in the Dáil recently the assertion that €38 million is being provided for additional mental health services is “untrue and is simply playing with statistics”. “Some €38 million is provided for additional services. On the face of it, this is very welcome and badly needed. This is, however, to be matched with €12 million for the existing level of services (ELS). “Anybody who has anything to do with mental health provision would accept that the existing level of services, as paltry and deficient as it is, cannot be provided for €12 million. “What then is the additional mental health budget announced today? To say that it is €38 million is, frankly, deceitful because it is not. There is a total package of …