Spending watchdog looks at new Garda HQ in Galway

The Dáil Public Accounts Committee is to examine the cost over-run at Galway’s new Garda regional headquarters on the outskirts of the city.

The Murrough facility is among five projects to be examined for cost over-runs by the Public Accounts Committee

The PAC will carry out a comprehensive examination of spending by the Office of Public Works where costs over-ran by up to €3 million.

Three major projects all over-shot their projected budgets in the past year. They were the Leinster House refurbishment, which cost €2.5 million more than its €15 million estimate and took six months longer than anticipated to complete.

Two major divisional Garda offices in Dublin’s Kevin Street and in Galway City each cost €3 million more than projections.

Both projects are now the subject of mediation between the OPW and the contractor.

The other two projects to be examined, both in Dublin, are the new Department of Health offices in Baggot Street and the new office for the Tax Appeals Commissioner.