Hotels booked to cope with Covid-19 costing State millions

The second highest payment, €292,247, has been made to the Maldron hotel in Parnell Square, Dublin, ­followed by €164,220 to the Radisson Blu Hotel in Golden Lane, also in the capital.

The Bridge House hotel in Tullamore, Co Offaly, which has 70 rooms, has been paid €156,827.79 to date.

The 330-room Clayton Hotel in Liffey Valley, outside ­Dublin, has received €147,869 while €130,878.76 has been spent on rooms in the Annebrook Hotel, Mullingar.

As well as hotels and guesthouses, money has been spent on accommodation in self-­catering apartments, private houses and student halls of residence.

A total of €14,460 has been paid to Gold Crest Student Accommodation in Newcastle, Galway, and €25,044.58 to the Talbot Suites at Stonebridge, Wexford, for the use of self-­catering units.

Cheaper bills were run up in Donegal, where a number of properties ­supplied rooms on a "free gratis" basis, as well as in counties Sligo, Roscommon and Leitrim, where demand was lower.

Meanwhile, rooms in the five-star K Club hotel in Straffan, Co Kildare, were made available on a 'pro bono basis', according to the HSE.

Separately, contracts for other facilities, many of which have been chronically under-used during the pandemic, continue to cost millions.

A lease on the Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre in Saggart, Dublin, is costing the State €21m. It was to be used as a community self-­isolating centre and coronavirus recovery centre, providing 756 rooms with the added potential of 450 beds in the ­convention centre, for a period of seven months from March.

However, there have been just 586 admissions to date and on June 22 the Government exercised a break clause in the contract, ending the lease early on October 22.

Three hotels in Temple Bar - Handel's Hotel, Temple Bar Hotel and Riverhouse Hotel - were contracted to supply 105 rooms between them at a cost of up to €105.72 per night if there is less than 50pc occupancy.

The hotels are being used for self-isolation and there have been just 108 admissions to date. The current lease expires on August 4, subject to extension if required by the HSE.

Meanwhile, a lease on the University of Limerick Sports Arena was acquired from June 8 to August 31.

Between 20 to 30 of the 84 available beds have been used on a weekly basis, according to the HSE. If the facility is used beyond September 1, a licence fee of €93,000 per month will be incurred.

Garnish House, a 21-bedroom guesthouse on Western Road, Cork, was acquired for use as a self-isolation facility for the vulnerable from April to July at a flat rate of €122,000. The 21 rooms have been in use since the lease commenced.

Separately, a three-month lease on Kealgorm House, Castleisland in Co Kerry, which is being used by the HSE as a community assessment hub, is costing €35,000.

Other contracts in place include the National Show Centre in Swords, Co Dublin, which is being used as a testing centre and immunisation hub at a cost of €4,500 per week. A two-month contract with a 21-bed guest house on Waterloo Road in Dublin is costing €50,000. So far there have been six admissions.

The figures were provided by the HSE on foot of parliamentary questions from Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae.

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