The Office of Public Works (OPW) has warned it could have to reduce spending on flood protection measures if forced to foot the bill for a long-planned National Children’s Science Centre that could cost €70 million or more. Under an arbitrator’s finding from last December, the OPW must deliver the building for the project by the end of 2029. However, OPW chairman John Conlon told the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee on Thursday that the organisation had no funding to pay for the science centre. So far about €5 million in public funding has been spent on the project. Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy, who last year published a scathing report on the background to the project, said on Thursday it would fall on the OPW to pay for the National Children’s Science Centre project if no other Government department was willing to fund it.

Source: The Irish Times February 14, 2026 00:24 UTC