Portlaoise Garda Station in €62m Budget spend but the business case for build still being considered for Laois Offaly HQ

The multi-million euro redevelopment of the Laois Offaly Garda HQ in Portlaoise is highlighted by the Department of Justice Budget Day statement that boasts at €62 million investment major projects to be progressed in 2025.

However, the Department has confirmed to the Leinster Express / Laois Live the redevelopment has yet to be given the final green light.

The Department said on Budget day that a €62m investment will be made in the "Garda estate across the country with major projects progressed in 2025 including Portlaoise, Macroom, Clonmel and Newcastlewest". Nearly €2.5 billion is being allocated to Gardaí under the funding.

Providing an update to the Leinster Express / Laois Live the Department said the following.

"The final business case for Portlaoise Garda Divisional HQ is currently being assessed by the Department, for which this project is an absolute priority. Construction works are expected to commence at the end of October. Any questions regarding details of the tendering process should be directed to the Office of Public Works (OPW)," it said.

The OPW completed a the definitive project brief for the redevelopment of the Laois Offaly Garda HQ in Portlaoise in July 2024 for what is a three-year project has not started on time.

The OPW is also still trying to recruit a resident site engineer for the three year development which has been in the pipeline for many years with several false starts along the way.

A document which is published in conjunction with a tender invite for a resident site engineer reveals the time frame and start time the OPW had been aiming for.

The document says that three stages have been completed including the tender award including for the main works contractor and reserved specialists.

It envisages that the construction stage will take 112 weeks with the fifth and final stage (handover and Final Completion) taking a year. The OPW says the 'total performance period' will take 164 weeks from the start of quarter three 2024 which would have been  July.

The OPW document says the project involves the construction of a new extension to and refurbishment of the existing Garda Divisional Headquarters in Portlaoise, construction of a new standalone building on the ‘Defence Forces Facility’ site to the rear
of the existing Garda Station site, for the purposes of improving "vital Garda infrastructure" for town policing.

The proposed development works will consist of the refurbishment/conservation of existing two-storey Garda station building and two single-storey guard houses.

A three-storey extension will be built to the existing Garda station building while a new three-storey-over-basement building is planned for the Defence Force property beside the station. A former Defence Focres building is among a number of structures that will be demolished.

One of the realistic assumptions is that the existing station is to be fully decanted and temporary accommodation to be provided in advance of the construction works commencing. While some gardaí have moved to Mountmellick, alternative accommodation in Portlaoise only began to be vacated in August.