THE Environmental Protection Agency is waiting for a new purpose built headquarters to be built, despite spending £175,000 on surveys of Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford.
The Dail Public Accounts Committee was told by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, that the Government decided the castle would be the home of the new EPA. However, the OPW reported that it would cost £3.4 million to house the agency in the castle and that it would not accommodate all the staff.
The new headquarters will now be sited in the grounds of the castle. In the meantime, £100,000 has been spent refurbishing temporary accommodation. The EPA hopes to be in its new headquarters in about 15 months.
At the committee, Mr Tommy Broughan TD and Mr Eric Byrne TD said the decision to house the agency in Wexford was political and this had cost the agency money.
The EPA's view is that it had no say in where it might be located. Decisions had been made before it had been established.
The State was left Johnstown Castle in 1944 for use in agricultural education.