Questions over rise in cost of new council hq

A councillor is calling for an explanation as to how the cost of buying and fitting out of Meath County Council’s new headquarters in the former Quinn Insurance building in Navan rose by 54 per cent - from €8.1 million to almost €12.5 million - since the purchase was first announced in 2013.
Fianna Fail Cllr Sean Drew, a member of the council’s audit committee, has questioned the spending of €7.4m on the fitting-out process, saying that this figure was originally stated to be €3m.
The landmark building of 7,710 sq metres - now named Buvinda House - was bought for €5.1m in 2013. On top of the purchase and fitting out, officials told cllrs recently that a new standalone building to house council meetings and receptions which would on occasion have to accommodate 150 people, would have to be built on the same site at Johnstown.
In its programme for capital expenditure of €255 million over the next six years announced recently, the fitting-out estimate is put at €7,444,000 and is subject to a tendering process.
The council has justified both the purchase and fitting-out costs by stating that it spends roughly €500,000 a year on renting premises and argues that the scattered nature of activities in various buildings militates against efficiency.
The council’s staff operate in a number of buildings, including the current headquarters at Railway Street, Navan. A spokesperson for the council said that the figure of €3 million for fitting out the building given in 2013 had been “an indicative figure” and was given at that time without the benefit of any formal evaluation of the size of works that were necessary.