State planning to sell Limerick's tax office at Sarsfield House

COUNCIL is expected to become the new owners of the Sarsfield House tax office in Limerick city centre after 2029.

Government has approved a memorandum to transfer the imposing building and the land on which it is constructed to the local authority.

The exact date of this is to be confirmed, however, with the transaction only going through after staff of the Revenue, who currently work in the building, move to a new state-of-the-art office in Opera Square.

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This is currently under construction, and the Government’s memorandum says it is likely to be in 2029 when staff move, and the council deal goes through.

This agreement came about after councillors green-lit a deal to sell a specific area of land in the Opera Square site to the Office of Public Works (OPW) to facilitate the construction of the 14-storey building, where Revenue staff will work from.

Council earned more than €1.1m for this sale, completed last year.

Whether Sarsfield House - constructed in 1971 - remains in place or is knocked once Revenue staff move out is unclear.

At last month’s metropolitan district meeting, it emerged council bosses had commissioned a series of studies into Sarsfield

House at Arthur’s Quay in a bid to establish whether it should be retained or knocked.

Council is developing a masterplan for the Arthur’s Quay area, and the studies into Sarsfield House are there, the council stated, to “allow us to make an informed judgement and proposals in relation to what can happen with the building.”

There’s been mixed views from local councillors on whether Sarsfield House should stay or go.

Some members have said they want to see it retained and potentially used for accommodation.

Others, including Fine Gael councillor and the chair of the economic committee, Cllr Peter Doyle have called for its removal.