Govt rows back on timescale for new Galway Garda HQ

 Justice Minister Alan Shatter says the construction of a new Garda Headquarters for the city is a priority – but he refuses to say when it will be built.

 The project was first mooted and progressed under the watch of the then Minister for Justice Michael McDowell a number of years ago, but it stalled due to the economic crisis.

It was resurrected last year when Minister Shatter announced the €15m new Garda Regional and Divisional HQ in Galway would be built as part of the €190 million justice envelope in the Government’s economic stimulus package, which earmarked investment of €2.25 billion in public infrastructure programmes.

He also confirmed in July 2012 that the work on an 8,000 square metre facility on the Dublin Road, opposite Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, would commence in 2013.

A completion date of 2015 was set at the time.

But Minister Shatter this week rowed back on timelines, and admitted he didn’t know when construction work on the project would start never mind finish.

In a response to Galway West Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív, Minister Shatter said: “The provision of a new Garda Divisional Headquarters in Galway was included in the special Government stimulus package announced in July 2012. It is intended that this project will be delivered by means of a Public Private Partnership and the necessary work involved is being undertaken by the relevant agencies.

“As the arrangements to be put in place for Public Private Partnerships are complex, it is not possible at this stage to indicate when the specific elements of the project will be completed. However, I can assure you that they are being treated as a priority.”

The Office of Public Works (OPW) has prepared contract documents for the facility, which went on public display in the summer of 2010.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel