The Office of Public Works (OPW) has been rebuilding “the great wall of Tara” in Co Meath for 11 years with materials costing €124,000 so far, it has been claimed.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín claimed the State agency had left the Hill of Tara, a national monument, like a building site.
Tánaiste Simon Harris agreed the timeline for rebuilding the wall is “extraordinary”.
Mr Tóibín has previously accused the Coalition of being a “Gucci Government wasting money” in the wake of the controversy over the cost of the €336,000 bike shelter for Leinster House and the €1.4 million spent on a refurbished security hut at Government buildings.
But in the Dáil the Meath West TD cited what he called another example of Government waste and said a wall was being rebuilt around a Church of Ireland graveyard at the top of the Hill of Tara after it had crumbled.
The OPW had told him in reply to a parliamentary question that the cost of materials, mainly lime and sand, was €124,000. The agency did not give a figure for labour costs. OPW staff are undertaking the reconstruction.
“Knowing, however, that the office of posh walls spends a lot of money on labour costs, no doubt the amount is three or four times that figure,” he said.
He later described the construction work as an “eyesore”, because it had turned “one of the most important national monuments in the country” into a building site.
The Hill of Tara “is poorly served by the OPW in terms of an interpretative centre that is closed more than it is open and muddy paths for visitors”, he said.
The OPW was taking “an incredible length of time. Even in the context of the Government’s glacial delivery of projects, 14 years must be a record,” he said, later clarifying that it was 11 years.
A quarter of the old stone wall around the Church of Ireland graveyard at the top of the hill had yet to be completed.
In reply to a parliamentary question, the OPW said the eastern section of the wall is “archaeologically sensitive” and “deliberations” about how it should be completed had been ongoing for two years.
“The remaining works will not progress until agreement is reached on this methodology and ministerial consent obtained.”
The State agency added, however, that “OPW masons were periodically directed towards other priority projects in the district depending on need”.
This type of work “is somewhat seasonal as lime mortar should not be applied when temperatures are liable to fall to lower temperatures”, the OPW stated.
Mr Tóibín said the Tánaiste had said he was overhauling the OPW and asked “how is that going?”
Agreeing that the amount of time taken to rebuild the wall was “extraordinary”, Mr Harris said he would asked Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran about the project. He stressed, however, that “the OPW has assured the Government it has taken steps to enhance its own governance procedures to ensure that value for money is achieved in the delivery of projects.
“The Government is absolutely committed to achieving value for money in all public infrastructure projects and our programme for Government made a commitment to ensure that the OPW and its structures deliver best value for money outcomes on all projects it is responsible for.”
He said it would be for Mr Moran to bring forward any proposals to Government on how he is going to advance that commitment.
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