Science quango Forfas makes €1.2m vanish in empty space
Sunday November 22 2009
STATE agency Forfas — one of the quangos that looks after science and enterprise — is wasting €1.2m per year by paying rent on empty offices.
The quango paid its board members, which included former FAS boss Rody Molloy, almost €139,000 last year in fees and expenses.
Molloy resigned from the board late last year, with ex-Anglo Irish Bank director Anne Heraty also stepping down following revelations about the bank.
It has emerged that Forfas is paying beleaguered property baron Bernard McNamara and his partners for office space in the Carrisbrook House office block, opposite Jurys Hotel in Ballsbridge.
The agency is also coughing up rent for space in the hideously ugly Knockmaun House on Merrion Street. Forfas took responsibility for the lengthy leases in the 1990s.
Forfas has only been able to rent part of the office space since the last tenants left. It estimates that it will have to pay up to €990,000 in rent on Carrisbrook House and €243,000 for Knockmaun House this year if it fails to find tenants.
“While significant efforts have been made, seeking replacement tenants or disposal of the leasehold interest in the current market conditions is a significant challenge,” former chairman Eoin O’Driscoll informed Enterprise Minister Mary Coughlan last June.
Forfas has also engaged the office of Public Works to find a tenant – from among the ranks of the public sector. The IDA has also been directed to market the offices to potential clients seeking office space in Dublin.
- Nick Webb
