An Post says it’s aware of the development needs of Tralee, as the Dáil has again heard calls for its site to be used for expanding the town's courthouse.
Kerry Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly raised the issue with Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, after An Post was granted planning permission for a new delivery service unit in Monavalley Industrial Estate.
It means An Post will be moving its depot operations out of the site on Edward Street, which backs on to the Tralee courthouse.
The site had long been suggested as a site for expansion of the courthouse, which the Justice Minister has now again dismissed as “not the ideal solution”.
The Minister for Justice has acknowledged that Tralee courthouse, which has only two court rooms, lacks the facilities one would expect to find in a modern courtroom.
The Courts Service has on many occasions indicated its preference to build a new courthouse instead of refurbishing (https://www.radiokerry.ie/news/significant-defects-at-tralee-courthouse-would-take-estimated-refurbishment-costs-over-e2-5-million-356780) the current building.
In September 2022, Kerry county councillors voted to sell a portion of the Island of Geese site in Tralee to the Courts Service for €160,000, for an entirely new courthouse to be built on that site.
In the Dáil, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the Courts Service is currently being registered as owner of the site with the Property Registration Authority
She added that ahead of the next phase of the National Development Plan, the Courts Service will seek to advance design work on the new courthouse, so that when funding becomes available, the Courts Service will be able to move quickly.
Deputy Pa Daly replied that no funding is available for Tralee courthouse this year, next year, or the year after that.
He said An Post will be moving out of the Edward Street site by February of next year, and this presents a significant cost-saving opportunity in compliance with the town centre first plan, and in the context of carbon footprint.
Minister McEntee said the An Post site may be up for sale in the future, but it’s not currently for sale and the Courts Service has already acquired a site for a new courthouse.
Deputy Daly called for Minister McEntee to ask the Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan, if that portion of the An Post site would be open for sale to the Courts Service, and the Island of Geese site could be used for another purpose, perhaps for An Garda Síochána.
The Justice Minister said to pause something that can progress now in terms of design plans, for something that might not come up, is not the ideal solution.
In relation to whether it would sell its site to the Courts Service for an expansion of Tralee courthouse, An Post has told Radio Kerry it has no comment to make at this stage.
It said it is obviously aware of the development needs of the area around Edward street and of the town generally.
