The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, is enjoying a €160,000 refurbishment of his ministerial office carried out at his request by the Office of Public Works, it has emerged.
Since he took up office in May, Mr Brennan has been busy urging the plethora of semi-State companies under his control to reform and put forward a new image for the public.
However, the Minister clearly believes reform and renewal begin at home. On his instructions the OPW spent weeks redoing his suite of offices in the Kildare Street Department.
The work was commissioned in June by the Minister shortly after he got his feet under the desk so recently vacated by Ms Mary O'Rourke, who now resides in the Seanad.
The OPW said "a substantial refurbishment" was carried out to the Minister's office, that of the Department's Secretary-General, Ms Julie O'Neill, and offices occupied by Mr Brennan's ministerial and constituency staff.
"This cost €160,000. I would like to point that the last similar refurbishment of this area took place in 1994," said a spokeswoman for the Office of Public Works.
Besides the office "make-over", the OPW also replaced the air-conditioning system. "It was determined that it also needed to be upgraded as it was installed approximately 30 years ago.
"This upgrade cost €39,000. There were a number of security measures put in place which cost €10,000," she said, in reply to a series of questions from The Irish Times.
There are also plans for a refurbishment of the St Stephen's Green headquarters of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, including the office of the Minister, Mr McDowell.
The work on the building, which is generally regarded as one of the worst in the Government's ownership, will have to be done gradually, both because of the cost involved and the difficulties posed by transferring staff elsewhere, sources have said.
Meanwhile, the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, is also enjoying new décor, following €58,000 worth of building work at her offices in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in Kildare Street.
"It was not just redecoration. There was a substantial amount of building work, rewiring etc. There is a rolling programme of renovation in the building," said a spokesman.
"This is a listed building. There were renovations to old sash windows. The place has not been renovated for 10 years."
